Ron DeSantis’ administration is threatening to prosecute the media for airing pro-choice ads

Ron DeSantis’ administration is threatening to prosecute the media for airing pro-choice ads

Mark Joseph Stern writes: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration is threatening TV stations that air ads in support of an abortion rights ballot initiative with criminal penalties, including jail time. DeSantis and his allies are already spending large sums of taxpayer dollars to fight Amendment 4, which would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution if voted into law in November. His “election police” have interrogated and intimidated residents who signed petitions to put it on the ballot. His administration created a publicly funded, state-run website condemning…

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Sign of senility? Trump says he’s visited Gaza

Sign of senility? Trump says he’s visited Gaza

The New York Times reports: Donald J. Trump suggested in a radio interview on Monday that he had visited war-torn Gaza in the past, a place there is no record of him visiting. When asked to clarify, a campaign aide said that Gaza is “in Israel” and that Mr. Trump has visited Israel. Mr. Trump made the initial comment in an interview with the conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that was broadcast on Monday on the anniversary of the Oct….

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What makes democracy a kitchen-table issue

What makes democracy a kitchen-table issue

Timothy Snyder writes: When I am on media, television hosts ask how democracy is relevant to people who are voting on kitchen-table issues. That’s easy. When Trump destroys our democracy, he will also destroy our economy. Autocracy will bring poverty. Think about the politicians Trump idolizes, Vladimir Putin in Russia and Viktor Orbán in Hungary. The first undid a democracy through fake emergencies, the second through persistent constitutional abuse. It is not hard to see why Trump likes them. Now…

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Muslim faith leaders endorse Harris

Muslim faith leaders endorse Harris

NBC News reports: A group of imams endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in an open letter shared first with NBC News on Sunday, a critical boost as she steps up her efforts to win back disaffected Muslim voters amid the Israel-Hamas war. Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, has faced widespread anger from Muslim and Arab voters over the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza, and the community could be critical some battleground states, like Michigan. The 25 Islamic…

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Trump: Immigrants have brought ‘bad genes’ into the country

Trump: Immigrants have brought ‘bad genes’ into the country

HuffPost reports: During an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Monday, Donald Trump said immigrants were filling the country with “bad genes” and used lies about decades-old crime statistics to make his point. Trump has long been obsessed with the idea that immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of America — echoing Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler’s rhetoric. For years, he has lied that other countries are purposefully sending criminals to the United States. As part of his recent weekslong…

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Trump allies threaten Deloitte contracts after employee shares Vance chats

Trump allies threaten Deloitte contracts after employee shares Vance chats

The Washington Post reports: Republicans backing Donald Trump are threatening Deloitte, a consulting firm that is one of the federal government’s largest business partners, with the loss of billions of dollars in contracts because an employee shared messages from 2020 in which JD Vance, now the GOP vice-presidential nominee, criticized the then-president’s record. On Sept. 27, Donald Trump Jr. exposed the employee’s name and photograph to millions of people on social media, writing, “Maybe it’s time for the GOP to…

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Why it would be counterproductive for Israel to attack Iran’s nuclear program

Why it would be counterproductive for Israel to attack Iran’s nuclear program

John Mecklin, editor-in-chief of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, interviews James Acton, a physicist and wide-ranging nuclear policy expert who co-directs the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: John Mecklin: I gather you think it would be a bad idea for Israel to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. Can you explain why for our readers? James Acton: Sure. If Israel or the United States tries to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, my belief is that that will…

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A year after the Nova massacre, survivors are still paralyzed with grief

A year after the Nova massacre, survivors are still paralyzed with grief

Alice Austin writes: At Adama Tova, grief hangs thick in the air. The sun seems to linger as it sets over the horizon, shining warm golden light on a yurt where siblings of Nova festival survivors are finishing up an art therapy session. Others mill about the garden, sitting on bean bags and sofas, and snacking on cakes and fruit in the communal kitchen. People move slowly here. Even the crickets sound mournful. “Anyone you see here over the age…

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Quantum physicists discover ‘negative time’ in strange experiment

Quantum physicists discover ‘negative time’ in strange experiment

Live Science reports: Quantum physicists are familiar with wonky, seemingly nonsensical phenomena: atoms and molecules sometimes act as particles, sometimes as waves; particles can be connected to one another by a “spooky action at a distance,” even over great distances; and quantum objects can detach themselves from their properties like the Cheshire Cat from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland detaches itself from its grin. Now researchers led by Daniela Angulo of the University of Toronto have revealed another oddball quantum outcome:…

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Shame on Donald Trump for worsening NC’s Helene tragedy with political lies

Shame on Donald Trump for worsening NC’s Helene tragedy with political lies

An editorial in The Charlotte Observer: Western North Carolina is trying to pick up the pieces left behind by Hurricane Helene, which decimated the region, leaving communities destroyed and a death toll in the triple digits. This is not a situation to capitalize on for political gain. But former President Donald Trump has politicized the situation at every turn, spreading falsehoods and conspiracies that fracture the community instead of bringing it together. The worst example is a social media post…

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Helene response hampered by misinformation, conspiracy theories spread through social media

Helene response hampered by misinformation, conspiracy theories spread through social media

The Washington Post reports: One day after Helene slammed into Asheville, N.C., leading to seven trees falling on her house and destroying her roof, Nicole McNeill read an alarming article that warned a second storm was barreling toward the area. McNeill, 43, had a panic attack, her anxiety spiking and her heart pounding. She knew she didn’t have enough gasoline in her car to evacuate from yet another disaster. But it was all a hoax. “The second storm turned out…

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Harris weighs more breaks with Biden as he keeps injecting himself into the campaign

Harris weighs more breaks with Biden as he keeps injecting himself into the campaign

CNN reports: Neither aides in the Harris campaign nor the Biden White House would commit to another joint campaign event between now and the election. Harris wants to create space, top aides say, but not too much space. She wants to be loyal — but she also wants to win. She is still planning to lean on Biden, who is flying to Milwaukee on Tuesday for an event trumpeting more projects made possible by administration efforts, to buck up union…

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Arab American leaders urge Harris to ‘show distance’ from Biden’s Israel policy during private Michigan meeting

Arab American leaders urge Harris to ‘show distance’ from Biden’s Israel policy during private Michigan meeting

CNN reports: In a side room backstage at a Friday campaign rally in Flint, Michigan, Arab American advocates asked Vice President Kamala Harris to break from President Joe Biden’s Israel policy and push harder for an end to the war in Gaza. The conversation, scheduled to last 10 minutes, ended up going 20, according to Wa’el Alzayat, the CEO of Emgage Action, a group aimed at boosting the Muslim American vote. Harris did not make any promises, he said, but…

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Election skeptics are running some county election boards in Georgia. A new rule could allow them to exclude decisive votes

Election skeptics are running some county election boards in Georgia. A new rule could allow them to exclude decisive votes

By Doug Bock Clark and Heather Vogell This story was originally published by ProPublica An examination of a new election rule in Georgia passed by the state’s Republican-controlled election board suggests that local officials in just a handful of rural counties could exclude enough votes to affect the outcome of the presidential race. The rule was backed by national groups allied with former President Donald Trump. It gives county boards the power to investigate irregularities and exclude entire precincts from…

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