Trump has a plan to steal the midterms. It will probably fail

Trump has a plan to steal the midterms. It will probably fail

Eric Levitz writes: Ever since the United States entrusted its presidency to a would-be insurrectionist in January 2025, many Americans have feared for the integrity of their nation’s future elections. And not without reason. President Donald Trump made his contempt for democracy clear on January 6, 2021. Shortly after retaking office last year, he pardoned the rioters who’d stormed the Capitol in his name, gutted the agency that protects America’s voting infrastructure from cyberattacks, attempted to unconstitutionally deter the counting…

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In unprecedented move, giant monkey research center may become a primate sanctuary

In unprecedented move, giant monkey research center may become a primate sanctuary

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine applauds the Oregon Health & Science University Board of Directors’ approval of a resolution authorizing negotiations with the National Institutes of Health to transition the Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) toward closure and potential conversion into a primate sanctuary. With passage of the resolution, OHSU is now positioned to work with the NIH to explore a pathway away from invasive primate experimentation and toward humane, human-relevant science. During a 180-day negotiation period authorized…

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Trump’s imperial fantasy begins with Gaza

Trump’s imperial fantasy begins with Gaza

Peter Beinart writes: In 1945, the United States stood at the apex of its global dominance. It comprised half the world’s GDP, owned 80% of its hard currency, and possessed the only nuclear weapons on earth. So, it’s hardly surprising that, in the spring of that year, Americans designed the logo for the new organization tasked with keeping world peace: the United Nations. With diplomats from across the globe set to arrive in San Francisco for the UN’s inaugural meeting,…

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Zelensky says Russia is proposing huge economic deals with U.S.

Zelensky says Russia is proposing huge economic deals with U.S.

The Washington Post reports: Days after negotiations to halt Russia’s war in Ukraine ended inconclusively in Abu Dhabi, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia and the United States were discussing bilateral economic agreements worth some $12 trillion, including deals that would affect Ukraine. Zelensky said intelligence sources showed him documents that laid out a framework for U.S.-Russian economic cooperation that he called the “Dmitriev package” — named for Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and a…

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USAID’s demise heralded a dark shift in America’s values

USAID’s demise heralded a dark shift in America’s values

Jeremy Konyndyk writes: Last February, Elon Musk boasted of “feeding USAID into the woodchipper” as President Trump kicked off his second term with an unanticipated assault on the agency. A year later, the brutal fallout is coming into focus. Humanitarian aid last year reached 25 million fewer people than in 2024 despite rising global need. More than 2,000 health clinics have closed in crisis zones around the world. Global food aid funding dropped by 40 percent from 2024 to 2025….

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The Chomsky/Epstein puzzle

The Chomsky/Epstein puzzle

Chris Knight writes: Noam Chomsky’s life and work cannot be understood without taking into account his militarily-funded linguistics research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). There were, I believe, always two ‘Noam Chomskys’ – one working for the US military and the other working tirelessly against that same military. This contradiction cannot explain every aspect of Chomsky’s puzzling friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. But it is the underlying contradiction that helps us understand why someone as radical as Chomsky ended…

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Jeff Bezos cares more about his superyacht and massive tax breaks than he cares about democracy

Jeff Bezos cares more about his superyacht and massive tax breaks than he cares about democracy

David Remnick writes: It’s truly impossible to keep up, isn’t it? Last week—after the Wall Street Journal broke more news about the Trump family’s dodgy crypto-business dealings and before the President shared a racist video of the Obamas depicted as dancing apes—the Amazon entrepreneur Jeff Bezos decided that one of his smaller properties, the Washington Post, has proved such a drag on his two-hundred-and-thirty-billion-dollar fortune that prudence required that he obliterate much of its newsroom. Early in his proprietorship, Bezos…

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U.S. Olympic athletes in Italy are speaking out about the political crisis at home

U.S. Olympic athletes in Italy are speaking out about the political crisis at home

The Los Angeles Times reports: Mikaela Shiffrin has generally let her performances do the talking during a career that has seen her win two Olympic titles and more World Cup races than any skier in history. But she clearly had something more to say before taking the slopes for the first time in the Milan-Cortina Winter Games. “I actually have some thoughts,” she said when asked by a reporter how she felt about representing the U.S. at a time when…

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Scientists reveal the alien logic of AI: hyper-rational but stumped by simple concepts

Scientists reveal the alien logic of AI: hyper-rational but stumped by simple concepts

PsyPost reports: A new study suggests that artificial intelligence systems approach strategic decision-making with a higher degree of mathematical optimization than human players, often outperforming humans in games requiring iterative reasoning. While these large language models demonstrate an ability to adapt to complex rules and specific competitive scenarios, they differ fundamentally from human cognition by failing to identify certain logical shortcuts known as dominant strategies. The findings appear in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. Large language models are…

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A genocide against Ukrainians is unfolding right now

A genocide against Ukrainians is unfolding right now

Roman Sheremeta posted on X: A genocide against Ukrainians is unfolding right now. It already has a name: “Kholodomor” (exhaustion through cold) This crime is being deliberately committed by russia. In legal terms, it has a clear definition – genocide. Under Article II of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, one of the defining acts of genocide is: “Deliberately inflicting on a group of people conditions of life calculated to bring about its…

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Two appeals court judges overrule at least 360 other judges by backing Trump’s mass detention policy

Two appeals court judges overrule at least 360 other judges by backing Trump’s mass detention policy

Politico reports: A federal appeals court Friday night backed the Trump administration’s policy to lock up the vast majority of people it is seeking to deport without offering a chance for bond, even if they have no criminal records and have resided in the country for decades. A divided three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the administration’s view — a reversal of every administration’s position for the last 30 years — is the correct interpretation…

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The Epstein scandal is taking down Europe’s political class. In the U.S., no one is facing accountability

The Epstein scandal is taking down Europe’s political class. In the U.S., no one is facing accountability

Politico reports: Across the Atlantic, heads are rolling over the Jeffrey Epstein revelations. In Norway, one prominent diplomat has already been suspended and a police investigation has been opened into a former prime minister. In the U.K., the former ambassador to the U.S. has been fired; on Tuesday, he resigned from the House of Lords. Police are reviewing reports he shared market-sensitive information with Epstein. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, was stripped of his royal titles and residence….

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Prosecutors began investigating Renee Good’s killing. Washington told them to stop

Prosecutors began investigating Renee Good’s killing. Washington told them to stop

The New York Times reports: Hours after an immigration agent fatally shot Renee Good inside her S.U.V. on a Minneapolis street last month, a senior federal prosecutor in Minnesota sought a warrant to search the vehicle for evidence in what he expected would be a standard civil rights investigation into the agent’s use of force. The prosecutor, Joseph H. Thompson, wrote in an email to colleagues that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, a state agency that specializes in investigating…

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Trump has never hidden his racism

Trump has never hidden his racism

Jamelle Bouie writes: Let’s suppose you’re the spoiled son of a self-made man. Let’s suppose that, despite your flash and bravado, you’ve failed at virtually everything you’ve tried. You’re the laughingstock of polite society, a punchline for the privileged. You think you’re superior enough to be the president of the United States — the highest honor in your country — but the actual president is a man of humble origins, a minority of the kind your family didn’t even rent…

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