Operation Epic Fury, meet Operation Colossal Blunder

Operation Epic Fury, meet Operation Colossal Blunder

Scott Anderson writes: America’s war with Iran has entered a calmer phase: diplomatic posturing, on-and-off-again negotiations and endless wrangling of a settlement. This, of course, is far preferable to the annihilation of Iranian civilization that President Trump was threatening just a few weeks ago. But it raises the question of just what has spurred this turnabout. The answer is rather straightforward. The American and Israeli bombing of Iran failed to provoke either a popular uprising against the regime in Tehran…

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Confusion in Strait of Hormuz leaves shipping firms guessing

Confusion in Strait of Hormuz leaves shipping firms guessing

The New York Times reports: Shipping companies said on Monday that President Trump’s offer to provide them safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz fell short of the sort of arrangements that would persuade them to make the trip. Mr. Trump said on Sunday that the United States would “guide” commercial vessels through the strait, which Iran has effectively closed since the war in the Persian Gulf started two months ago. But the president provided few details on how the…

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A radical court just called Trump’s abortion bluff

A radical court just called Trump’s abortion bluff

Naomi Cahn and Sonia M. Suter write: On Friday, the archconservative U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit issued a stunning nationwide injunction that directly affects one-fourth of all abortions in the United States. The opinion rejected an Food and Drug Administration regulation allowing people to buy mifepristone, a drug used for medication abortion and miscarriage management, by mail. This ruling applies nationally, even in states that haven’t banned abortion. On Monday, the Supreme Court issued a temporary hold,…

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Judge mulls contempt over DHS’ ‘patently false’ allegation in deportation case

Judge mulls contempt over DHS’ ‘patently false’ allegation in deportation case

Politico reports: A federal judge said Monday that the Trump administration had put her security at risk by posting a “patently false” allegation that she knowingly released an ICE detainee with an international warrant for murder. Justice Department attorney Kevin Bolan profusely apologized to Rhode Island-based U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose for the press release posted last week by the Department of Homeland Security, which Bolan acknowledged “simply was not true.” Bolan said that he didn’t tell the judge about…

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An Ohio primary with a GOP candidate who was in ICE will test Trump’s mass-deportation push

An Ohio primary with a GOP candidate who was in ICE will test Trump’s mass-deportation push

Nick Miroff writes: In mid-January, while Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and agents were battling protesters on the icy streets of Minneapolis, ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan abruptly quit. This was a week after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good; another protester, Alex Pretti, was slain nine days later. Sheahan, then 28, had been on the job for less than a year, but she did not resign in protest. She left to run for Congress in Ohio. Sheahan’s…

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After months of debating rate cuts, Fed shifts toward mapping out rate hikes

After months of debating rate cuts, Fed shifts toward mapping out rate hikes

The Wall Street Journal reports: The Federal Reserve’s internal debate over interest rates has turned a corner. Officials are no longer arguing about when to resume cutting. Instead, they are starting to talk about the conditions that would warrant a hike. The shift came further into view on Friday, when three Fed bank presidents released statements explaining why they had objected on Wednesday to language characterizing the central bank’s next likely move as a cut. Depending on how the economy…

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How much of our personalities are determined at birth?

How much of our personalities are determined at birth?

Laurie Clarke writes: In 2009, Abdelmalek Bayout faced a nine-year prison sentence in Trieste, Italy, for stabbing and killing a man who had mocked him in the street. Aiming to reduce the sentence, his lawyer made an unusual legal argument. His client’s DNA, he said, indicated the presence of the “warrior gene”, a mutation that decades of scientific research had tied to aggressive behaviour. Because of this, the argument went, he couldn’t be held fully accountable for his actions. The…

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Why is the American media largely silent about Israel’s role in Trump’s decision to go to war?

Why is the American media largely silent about Israel’s role in Trump’s decision to go to war?

Jason Stanley writes: In an extraordinary article published on 7 April, the New York Times described how Donald Trump decided to go to war with Iran. It is highly unusual for the White House Situation Room to be used for in-person meetings with foreign leaders. But this time, the Situation Room was not just used for a meeting with a foreign leader. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin, Netanyahu took over the presentation space, backed on a screen by the leader of…

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What Tucker Carlson means when he talks about Israel

What Tucker Carlson means when he talks about Israel

Peter Beinart writes: Tucker Carlson can read the room. In November 2016, just days after President Trump’s first election victory, he launched a prime-time show on Fox News largely devoted to the proposition that liberal elites were replacing white Americans and Europeans with Black and brown immigrants. Now, as many Americans sour on Israel, he’s in the vanguard once again. Over the last year or so, he’s become a leading champion on the right for abandoning America’s long-held support for…

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America will pay dearly for its energy arrogance

America will pay dearly for its energy arrogance

Gregory Brew writes: Even if the Strait of Hormuz reopens, markets will remain on edge, waiting to see if Iran closes it once more. Oil coming out of the Gulf will be viewed as more risky — and likely more expensive as a result. Countries will almost certainly rethink their energy security plans and shift their economies away from dependence on imports, including of oil and natural gas. This could prove to have the most profound consequences for the United…

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Trump’s Washington redesign is a betrayal of America’s founding values

Trump’s Washington redesign is a betrayal of America’s founding values

Nikki McCann Ramirez writes: On Valentines Day in 1962, millions of Americans tuned in for a never before televised event: a tour of the White House. A Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy would go on to be viewed by a global audience of over 80 million in its initial airing. The black and white documentary was syndicated in over 50 countries, including the Soviet Union, and was a transformational use of American soft power through…

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DOJ is growing bolder yet, cutting legal corners to get Trump the headlines — and revenge — he wants

DOJ is growing bolder yet, cutting legal corners to get Trump the headlines — and revenge — he wants

Quinta Jurecic writes: The Justice Department is entering a hyperaggressive new era, cutting legal corners in service of getting President Trump the headlines—and revenge—he wants. Last month, Trump pushed out Attorney General Pam Bondi, reportedly because he was unhappy with her failure to secure legal victories against his enemies. Todd Blanche, for now the acting attorney general, seems to be campaigning for Trump’s nomination to replace Bondi: On his watch, the department has announced a spate of new prosecutions and…

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The last days of Butter Ridge Farm

The last days of Butter Ridge Farm

Eli Saslow writes: Their farm was called Butter Ridge, 326 acres of pastoral valleys and rolling hillsides just south of the New York State border. From his house at the top of the ridge, Brad’s father, Brian, could turn in every direction and see land that his family had once farmed. His grandfather Ivan Watson had run a large dairy operation just to the west, near the Susquehanna River. Ivan’s nine children had all gone on to become dairy farmers,…

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These chimpanzees began the bloodiest ‘war’ on record. No one knows why

These chimpanzees began the bloodiest ‘war’ on record. No one knows why

Carl Zimmer reports: Since 1995, scientists have tracked a huge group of chimpanzees living in the forests of Uganda. The sustained research, featured in the 2023 documentary “Chimp Empire,” has led to profound insights about our closest living relatives and, by extension, our own ancestors. In one line of research, the scientists studied deep bonds among male chimpanzees in the Ngogo group, named for a hill in the Kibale National Park where they live. The males spend years hunting together…

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