‘Operation Higher Court’: Inside the religious right’s efforts to entertain and influence Supreme Court justices

‘Operation Higher Court’: Inside the religious right’s efforts to entertain and influence Supreme Court justices

Politico reports: The former leader of a religious right organization said he recruited and coached wealthy volunteers including a prominent Dayton, Ohio, evangelical couple to wine, dine and entertain conservative Supreme Court justices while pushing conservative positions on abortion, homosexuality, gun restrictions and other issues. Rob Schenck, an evangelical minister who headed the Faith and Action group headquartered near the Supreme Court from 1995 to 2018, said he arranged over the years for about 20 couples to fly to Washington…

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Extremists controlling the Supreme Court are the biggest threat to American democracy

Extremists controlling the Supreme Court are the biggest threat to American democracy

George Soros writes: The United States has been a constantly evolving democracy ever since it was founded in 1776, but its survival as a democracy is now gravely endangered. A set of loosely interconnected developments at home and abroad is responsible for this crisis. From abroad, the US is threatened by repressive regimes led by Xi Jinping in China and Vladimir Putin’s Russia who want to impose an autocratic form of government on the world. But the threat to the…

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Does the U.S. deserve and need a younger president?

Does the U.S. deserve and need a younger president?

The New York Times reports: When President Biden leaves Tuesday night for a four-day swing through the Middle East, he will presumably be more rested than he would have been had he followed the original plan. The trip was initially tacked onto another journey last month to Europe, which would have made for an arduous 10-day overseas trek until it became clear to Mr. Biden’s team that such extended travel might be unnecessarily taxing for a 79-year-old president, or “crazy,”…

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Biden defends planned visit to Saudi Arabia as U.S. judge asks whether crown prince should get immunity

Biden defends planned visit to Saudi Arabia as U.S. judge asks whether crown prince should get immunity

Reuters reports: President Joe Biden on Saturday defended his decision to travel to Saudi Arabia saying human rights would be on his agenda as he gave a preview of a trip on which he aims to reset ties with the crown prince, who he previously denounced as a pariah. Biden will hold bilateral talks with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and his leadership team, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on his visit to the Middle East next week. The…

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As trust wanes, conspiracy theories rise

As trust wanes, conspiracy theories rise

The Associated Press reports: The global public relations firm Edelman has conducted surveys about public trust for more than two decades, beginning after the 1999 World Trade Organization’s meeting in Seattle was marred by anti-globalization riots. Tonia Reis, director of Edelman’s Trust Barometer surveys, said trust is a precious commodity that’s vital for the economy and government to function. “Trust is absolutely essential to everything in society working well,” Reis said. “It’s one of those things that, like air, people…

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As it runs short of soldiers, Russia launches a ‘stealth mobilization’

As it runs short of soldiers, Russia launches a ‘stealth mobilization’

The New York Times reports: Four Russian veterans of the war in Ukraine recently published short videos online to complain about what they called their shabby treatment after returning to the Russian region of Chechnya, after six weeks on the battlefield. One claimed to have been denied a promised payment of nearly $2,000. Another grumbled that a local hospital declined to remove shrapnel lodged in his body. Their public pleas for help got results, but not the kind they were…

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Christian fascists on a crusade to take over America

Christian fascists on a crusade to take over America

The New York Times reports: Three weeks before he won the Republican nomination for Pennsylvania governor, Doug Mastriano stood beside a three-foot-tall painted eagle statue and declared the power of God. “Any free people in the house here? Did Jesus set you free?” he asked, revving up the dozens before him on a Saturday afternoon at a Gettysburg roadside hotel. Mr. Mastriano, a state senator, retired Army colonel and prominent figure in former President Donald J. Trump’s futile efforts to…

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Washington’s Quincy Institute accused of taking a ‘morally bankrupt position on Ukraine’

Washington’s Quincy Institute accused of taking a ‘morally bankrupt position on Ukraine’

Mother Jones reports: Two prominent figures have resigned in protest from the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft—the only major think tank to promote a skeptical view of US power and military interventionism. In announcing their departures, Joe Cirincione and Paul Eaton criticized the organization’s dovish response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “They take this indefensible, morally bankrupt position on Ukraine,” Cirincione said in an interview Thursday with Mother Jones. “This is clearly an unprovoked invasion, and somehow Quincy keeps…

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Inside the Ukrainian resistance

Inside the Ukrainian resistance

David Patrikarakos writes: “The situation in the city is very, very bad. The Russian occupiers are increasing their presence all the time. They ride around the city with impunity and break down the doors of houses and apartments. Soldiers usually come at around midnight and start searching for evidence of partisan activity. Often, they just take people away. Now they’ve turned their attention to officials. A few days ago, they arrested the mayor and some members of the city council….

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Elon Musk quits Twitter deal, roiling Trump world

Elon Musk quits Twitter deal, roiling Trump world

Politico reports: Elon Musk officially terminated a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter on Friday, a move that would appear to dash the hopes of former President Donald Trump and his supporters that the social media platform would loosen content restrictions that have frustrated conservatives. The move spurred fresh attacks on Twitter’s existing management, including from Donald Trump Jr., who said it showed that censorship is going to be alive and well. “I can almost guarantee that whatever censorship they…

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Societies lacking cohesion have a history of falling apart

Societies lacking cohesion have a history of falling apart

Science Alert reports: In the area where the Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexican borders now meet, ancestral Pueblo societies thrived and then collapsed several times, over the span of 800 years. Each time they recovered, their culture transformed. This shifting history can be seen in their pottery and the incredible stone and earth dwellings they created. During 300 of those years, some Pueblo peoples, who also used ink tattoos, were ruled by a matrilineal dynasty. As in the collapse…

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CDC finds notorious weed killer tied to cancer in over 80% of urine samples collected in the U.S.

CDC finds notorious weed killer tied to cancer in over 80% of urine samples collected in the U.S.

The New Lede reports: In fresh evidence of the pervasive nature of pesticides, more than 80 percent of urine samples drawn from children and adults participating in a US health study contained a weedkilling chemical linked to cancer and other health problems. The report by a unit of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that out of 2,310 urine samples collected, 1,885 were laced with detectable traces of glyphosate, the active ingredient in herbicides sold around the…

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Pollen and heat — a looming challenge for global agriculture

Pollen and heat — a looming challenge for global agriculture

Carolyn Beans writes: Last June, Aaron Flansburg felt the temperature spike and knew what that meant for his canola crop. A fifth-generation grower in Washington state, Flansburg times his canola planting to bloom in the cool weeks of early summer. But last year, his fields were hit with 108-degree Fahrenheit heat just as flowers opened. “That is virtually unheard of for our area to have a temperature like that in June,” he says. Yellow blooms sweltered, reproduction stalled, and many…

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The nexus between the climate change and democracy crises

The nexus between the climate change and democracy crises

Roger Karapin writes: The crises the U.S. is facing regarding global warming and representative democracy are similar in some ways. Both have been serious problems for several decades, but have taken on new urgency in the past five years. In both, the Republican Party is a key barrier to progress or the instigator of regress. Both now place the U.S. increasingly at odds with our allies in Canada and Western Europe. Beyond those similarities, the two crises also are linked:…

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