Attorney General Barr’s systematic efforts to misrepresent the findings of the Mueller report

Attorney General Barr’s systematic efforts to misrepresent the findings of the Mueller report

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The New York Times reports: When Attorney General William P. Barr sent Congress a four-page letter last month describing his take on the conclusions of Robert S. Mueller III’s special counsel investigation, he quoted several fragments of Mr. Mueller’s then-secret report. But none of the excerpts were in context or even complete sentences, raising the question of whether he was portraying their thrust and tone accurately or skewing them to make them sound better for President Trump. Now that the…

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Julian Assange smeared Seth Rich to cover for Russians, Mueller report reveals

Julian Assange smeared Seth Rich to cover for Russians, Mueller report reveals

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The Daily Beast reports: Julian Assange not only knew that a murdered Democratic National Committee staffer wasn’t his source for thousands of hacked party emails, he was in active contact with his real sources in Russia’s GRU months after Seth Rich’s death. At the same time he was publicly working to shift blame onto the slain staffer “to obscure the source of the materials he was releasing,” Special Counsel Robert Mueller asserts in his final report on Russia’s role in…

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Extinction Rebellion and Attenborough put climate in spotlight in the UK

Extinction Rebellion and Attenborough put climate in spotlight in the UK

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The Guardian reports: With Extinction Rebellion making headlines and Sir David Attenborough broadcasting The Facts on BBC One, climate change has gone mainstream this Easter. A nation has been watching protesters glue themselves to trains, turn London’s roads into gardens and actively invite arrest in their hundreds. As a media strategy it is working. How did glueing yourself to a train highlight climate change, Radio 4’s Today presenter Nick Robinson asked Dr Gail Bradbrook, an Extinction Rebellion co-founder. “It gets…

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Trump’s attacks on the Fed aren’t unique. Central banks worldwide are under attack

Trump’s attacks on the Fed aren’t unique. Central banks worldwide are under attack

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Fareed Zakaria writes: Around the democratic world, there is a power struggle taking place that might end up being the most damaging and long-lasting consequence of this era of populism. Elected leaders — from President Trump to Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan to India’s Narendra Modi — have been steadily attacking the independence of their nations’ central banks. This could end very badly. A brief history of modern central banking. As the Economist points out, politicians in the 1970s would routinely…

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Vigilantes: Videos appear to show armed militia detaining migrants at U.S.-Mexico border

Vigilantes: Videos appear to show armed militia detaining migrants at U.S.-Mexico border

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The Guardian reports: Armed rightwing militia members detained a large group of migrants at the US-Mexico border and coordinated with US border patrol agents to have them arrested, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, in a series of actions the civil liberties organization called a “kidnapping” and a flagrant violation of the law. Several videos taken at the border in New Mexico this week appeared to show men belonging to a group that calls itself the United Constitutional Patriots…

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Do you see what I see?

Do you see what I see?

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Nicola Jones writes: In a Candoshi village in the heart of Peru, anthropologist Alexandre Surrallés puts a small colored chip on a table and asks, “Ini tamaara?” (“How is it?” or “What is it like?”). What Surrallés would like to ask is, “What color is this?” But the Candoshi, a tribe of some 3,000 people living on the upper banks of the Amazon River, don’t have a word for the concept of color. Nor are their answers to the question…

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The Mueller report amounts to an impeachment referral

The Mueller report amounts to an impeachment referral

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Yoni Appelbaum writes: In the report, [Mueller] laid out 10 specific incidents his team examined, each of which might constitute—singly or in aggregate—evidence of obstructive conduct on the part of the president. “The Special Counsel’s decision to describe the facts of his obstruction investigation without reaching any legal conclusions leaves it to the Attorney General to determine whether the conduct described in the report constitutes a crime,” Barr wrote. But there is another, simpler way to understand Mueller’s report. A…

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The Mueller report lays out everything Congress needs to investigate the president for obstruction of justice

The Mueller report lays out everything Congress needs to investigate the president for obstruction of justice

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Noah Bookbinder writes: [T]he Mueller report is an unmistakable act of deference to Congress’s primary jurisdiction over accountability for the president. The House Judiciary Committee must now pick up where Mr. Mueller left off and begin holding proceedings to determine whether Mr. Trump abused the powers of his office. The report details egregious evidence of obstruction, emphasizing the pattern of conduct that the president took after James Comey, then the F.B.I. director, confirmed the bureau’s investigation into possible links between…

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How people around the world view climate change

How people around the world view climate change

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Pew Research Center reports: Majorities in most surveyed countries say global climate change is a major threat to their nation. In fact, it’s seen as the top threat in 13 of 26 surveyed countries, more than any other issue the survey asked about. People in Greece express very high levels of concern, with 90% labeling climate change a major threat (similar to the 88% there who cite the condition of the global economy). People in South Korea, France, Spain and…

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What if we actually pulled off a Green New Deal?

What if we actually pulled off a Green New Deal?

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What if we actually pulled off a #GreenNewDeal? What would the future look like? The Intercept presents a film narrated and co-written by Rep. @AOC and illustrated by @mollycrabapple. https://t.co/zAMLAizbN7 pic.twitter.com/PywCR0jPUl — The Intercept (@theintercept) April 17, 2019

Tom Watson calls for inquiry into Arron Banks and Leave.EU

Tom Watson calls for inquiry into Arron Banks and Leave.EU

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The Guardian reports: Tom Watson has called for a judicial inquiry into the activities ahead of the Brexit referendum of the Leave.EU campaign and its main backer, Arron Banks, after claims the group faked a video and photos connected to migrants. Watson, the deputy Labour leader and shadow culture secretary, said the inquiry should have criminal powers. “We cannot allow those who cheat and lie to mock and subvert our democracy (using millions from who knows where) to prevail,” he…

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Why the media dumped Beto for Mayor Pete

Why the media dumped Beto for Mayor Pete

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Jack Shafer writes: Burning with the velocity of a prairie fire on a gusty Indiana day, Pete Buttigieg scorched the airwaves, seared the podcasts, and charred the press this week as he ignited his presidential campaign, temporarily torching his Democratic competition in the process. The secret to Buttigieg’s publicity run was no secret, wrote Matthew Yglesias in Vox. Like Molly Bloom in his favorite novel, Ulysses, he can’t stop saying “yes”—to media invitations. In recent weeks, he’s appeared on a…

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The financial sector must be at the heart of tackling climate change

The financial sector must be at the heart of tackling climate change

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Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, François Villeroy de Galhau, governor of Banque de France, and Frank Elderson, chair of the Network for Greening the Financial System, write: The catastrophic effects of climate change are already visible around the world. From blistering heatwaves in North America to typhoons in south-east Asia and droughts in Africa and Australia, no country or community is immune. These events damage infrastructure and private property, negatively affect health, decrease productivity and destroy wealth….

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