Jack Smith isn’t intimidated by Trump

Jack Smith isn’t intimidated by Trump

The New York Times reports: President Trump’s unrelenting fast-track drive to humiliate, investigate and prosecute the people he hates has gained momentum, in part, because his targets have not been in a position to inflict serious retributive pain on him. Jack Smith is different. Mr. Smith, the special counsel who twice indicted Mr. Trump, appears unintimidated by the president’s demand that Republican lawmakers investigate him and that the Justice Department put him in prison for as-yet unproved and unspecified crimes….

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What’s behind Israel’s new plan to divide Gaza in two

What’s behind Israel’s new plan to divide Gaza in two

Muhammad Shehada writes: Since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect, the Trump administration has been hailing the beginning of a new chapter in Gaza. “After so many years of unceasing war and endless danger, today the skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still, and the sun rises on a Holy Land that is finally at peace,” the president declared during his speech at the Knesset earlier this month. But facts on the ground…

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The psychology of trolling may start with a specific type of envy

The psychology of trolling may start with a specific type of envy

PsyPost reports: A new study reveals a psychological pathway that connects narcissistic personality traits with the tendency to engage in social media trolling. The research suggests this link is partially explained by a person’s feelings of malicious envy and their exposure to antisocial media content. The findings were published in the journal Behaviour & Information Technology. To understand the study, it helps to first understand the concepts involved. Narcissism is a personality trait characterized by a grandiose sense of self-importance,…

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Zohran Mamdani has a point about rent control

Zohran Mamdani has a point about rent control

Rogé Karma writes: Few policies disgust academic economists quite like rent control. In the 1970s, the Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck famously described it as the “most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city—except for bombing.” In a 2012 poll of prominent economists, just 2 percent said that rent-control laws have had “a positive impact” on the “amount and quality of broadly affordable rental housing in cities that have used them.” (The Nobel Prize winner Richard Thaler sarcastically proposed a…

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The Islamophobic attacks on Zohran Mamdani carry the weight of history and the urgency of the present

The Islamophobic attacks on Zohran Mamdani carry the weight of history and the urgency of the present

Rozina Ali writes: In the autumn of 2008, Colin Powell, the former Secretary of State under George W. Bush, broke from the Republican Party and endorsed the Democratic nominee for President, Barack Obama. It had been a brutal summer of electoral warfare. Rumors that Obama was Muslim swirled, becoming a significant aspect of the media coverage of his campaign. A group working with his opponent, John McCain, called people in swing states, planted doubts about Obama’s religious background, and asked…

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How Mamdani built bridges to Jewish New Yorkers

How Mamdani built bridges to Jewish New Yorkers

The Forward reports: In his quest to become the first Muslim mayor of the city that is home to the largest Jewish community in the United States, Zohran Mamdani has created a rare coalition of progressive Jews, liberal Zionists, and segments of the Hasidic community. Mamdani, a democratic socialist and critic of Israel, has been boosted by local Jewish elected officials and embraced by prominent rabbis, even as the frontrunner continues to struggle to earn the trust of many Jewish…

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Why the crisis everyone mourns reveals liberal tradition at its most vital

Why the crisis everyone mourns reveals liberal tradition at its most vital

Mike Brock writes: This is, after all, a philosophy blog. And right now, a strange paradox confronts us: at the precise moment when everyone declares liberalism dead or dying, the liberal tradition is displaying more intellectual vitality than I’ve witnessed in my lifetime. The despair is everywhere. Establishment liberals mourn the end of technocratic consensus. Progressives declare the Enlightenment project failed. Conservatives celebrate democracy’s inevitable collapse. Neo-reactionaries publish blueprints for what comes after. Even defenders of liberal democracy often sound…

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‘Get out of our neighborhood!’: Chicago locals take on ICE block-by-block

‘Get out of our neighborhood!’: Chicago locals take on ICE block-by-block

Reuters reports: The immigration agents’ tear gas grenades clinked and then exploded against the concrete, shrouding the block in plumes of white gas. The dozen or so residents at the scene only screamed louder. “We don’t want you here,” yelled Rae Lindenberg. The 32-year-old, who works in marketing, ran out of her apartment when she heard the shrill sound of whistles. “Get out of our neighborhood!” The squad of agents had appeared in Lakeview last month, an upscale neighborhood dotted…

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Strong-arm tactics led by Border Patrol’s Bovino are the new norm in Chicago as ICE leadership gets sidelined

Strong-arm tactics led by Border Patrol’s Bovino are the new norm in Chicago as ICE leadership gets sidelined

Chicago Tribune reports: Cameras rolling, Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino sailed down the Chicago River in a convoy of government boats. His men held rifles as videographers filmed the stunt later posted to their social media. The Trump administration had just launched an operation in the city to pursue “the worst of the worst” criminal undocumented immigrants. Homeland Security used the footage for a music video set to Alice in Chains’ “Rooster” ending with Bovino smiling into the distance. In…

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Michigan lawyer says a Halloween terror plot that FBI Director Kash Patel announced never existed

Michigan lawyer says a Halloween terror plot that FBI Director Kash Patel announced never existed

The Associated Press reports: A Michigan defense lawyer is disputing FBI Director Kash Patel’s allegations that his 20-year-old client and four other young suspects were planning to carry out a terror attack on Halloween weekend. Announcing their arrests on Friday, Patel said more information would be coming soon, however the FBI and Michigan authorities have offered few details about the case. Spokespersons for the state and national FBI and the U.S. Attorney in Detroit did not immediately respond to messages…

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Nick Fuentes is entering the MAGA mainstream

Nick Fuentes is entering the MAGA mainstream

Ali Breland writes: Tucker Carlson slapped his nicotine-pouch container down on the table and got straight into it: “Nick Fuentes, thank you for doing this,” he said. “I want to understand what you believe, and I want to give you a chance, in a minute, to just lay it out.” The two were sitting in Carlson’s barn turned podcast studio at his home in Maine. In a more-than-two-hour-long episode of The Tucker Carlson Show that aired earlier this week, Carlson…

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ICE plans cash rewards for private bounty hunters to locate and track immigrants

ICE plans cash rewards for private bounty hunters to locate and track immigrants

The Intercept reports: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is considering hiring private bounty hunters to locate immigrants across the country, according to a procurement document reviewed by The Intercept. Under the plan, bounty hunters may receive “monetary bonuses” depending on how successfully they track down their targets — and how many immigrants they then report to ICE. According to the document, which solicits information from interested contractors for a potentially forthcoming contract opportunity, companies hired by ICE will be given…

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ICE has powerful Clearview AI facial recognition app that Illinois cops are barred from using

ICE has powerful Clearview AI facial recognition app that Illinois cops are barred from using

Chicago Sun-Times reports: The Trump administration has wiped a facial recognition policy from its website while further embracing the controversial technology and securing a $9 million contract with a company barred from selling to Illinois law enforcement agencies. The ban was the result of a lawsuit filed in Cook County that alleged Clearview AI’s massive database of photographs pulled from across the internet violated a landmark state law protecting people’s personal information. But a settlement of the case didn’t apply…

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Andrew should answer Epstein questions in Congress, Democrats say

Andrew should answer Epstein questions in Congress, Democrats say

BBC News reports: Members of a US congressional committee investigating the Jeffrey Epstein case have intensified their calls for Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to answer questions about his links to the late sex offender. King Charles stripped his brother of his “prince” title on Thursday, following months of pressure over Andrew’s ties to Epstein. Andrew has always denied wrongdoing. At least four Democrat members of the House Oversight Committee have since renewed their calls for Andrew to testify – although the…

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