Donald Trump has said that if Congress doesn’t give him money for his big, beautiful border wall, he will shut down the government, a bit of brinksmanship that has all of DC up in arms, or at least the portion of DC that writes headlines. On CNBC, the two sides were about to “barrel toward […]
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The Donald J. Trump Foundation was an audacious grift, even by the standards of its namesake. Charitable foundations are supposed to operate under a simple premise: They receive certain tax exemptions when it comes to receiving and disbursing their funds, and in turn, those funds will be funneled into good works for society’s benefit. For […]
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Let’s say Washington is a swamp, as Trump calls it. Then lobbyists are the gators, and strong ethics rules are the fence that keeps Americans from getting bit. In President Donald Trump’s swamp, the gators keep getting bigger and the fence is in tatters. On Saturday, Ryan Zinke submitted his resignation as secretary of the […]
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“What does it take for a Donald Trump voter to renounce their decision?” is a question worth exploring as 2020 approaches, especially considering the fervency of his followers, who often seem less interested in policy, and more fixated on the bogus immigration threat and alleged conspiracies against their beloved leader. On Monday, the Washington Post […]
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“If you think you’re enlightened, go spend a week with your family.” – Ram Dass The holidays are upon us and the joy of being with our loved ones is flooding us with… dread. Because it’s not always a cakewalk when family gathers. Increasing stress and high expectations create a holiday powder-keg. Add a dash […]
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The #MeToo movement has toppled dozens of prominent men in American society over the past 18 months. Some other English-speaking countries, however, have only seen modest or muted reckonings. As Australia’s ABC News put it in May, “There’s been a steady stream of #MeToo headlines out of the US, but it’s more of a trickle […]
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Before we turn to the meat of today’s post (short because I am still recovering from a bad bug), it’s disappointing to see Corbyn make such a hash of things. I really would like to be able to cheer Labour on, but the party isn’t looking any more competent that the Tories. Yesterday, Corbyn threatened […]
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Beto O’Rourke is running, or so it increasingly seems. After coming closer to winning statewide office than any Texas Democrat in decades, the three-term congressman from El Paso acknowledged that he was considering a White House bid and met quietly with Barack Obama. Louis Susman, a major Democratic fundraiser who backed the former president’s nascent […]
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The popular perception of Brexiteers as lacking a rational vision—as being motivated, rather, by naïve and nostalgic fantasies—is widespread. In November, the London Times published an illustrative cartoon. Comprised of three panels, it shows an angry mob of Brexiteers, leading Conservative MPs Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg at the fore, chanting: “What do we want?!” […]
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Joe Biden is feeling so good about his 2020 chances, he’s already thinking about a running mate. Last week, the Associated Press reported that Biden’s advisers have discussed the possibility of teaming with a younger candidate—Beto O’Rourke’s name has come up—to fend off concerns about the 76-year-old’s age. With the 2020 Democratic National Convention more […]
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By Chloe Farand. Originally published at desmogblog. Following two tension-filled weeks at the UN climate talks in Poland, countries finally agreed on the operating manual to implement the Paris Agreement. While this rulebook is essential to kick-start the agreement in 2020, campaigners and scientists have warned of a stark disconnect between the urgency to prevent […]
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The US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence today released a pair of reports detailing the results of its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. Here’s what you need to know. The Washington Post obtained a draft of the report ahead of its publication and revealed its contents in a bombshell article […]
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On Friday evening, a federal judge in Texas issued a ruling that landed like a lighting bolt: He decided that thanks to Congress last year reducing the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) tax penalty on people who didn’t buy health insurance to zero, the entire law was now unconstitutional. The ruling was promptly derided by many […]
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By Jerri-Lynn Scofield, who has worked as a securities lawyer and a derivatives trader. She is currently writing a book about textile artisans. I thought a couple of days after the weekend launch of Blue Planet II — a documentary I’ve yet to watch – might be an apt time to discuss efforts to make […]
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By Justin Mikulka, a freelance writer, audio and video producer living in Trumansburg, NY. Originally published at DeSmog Blog A Harvard research team recently announced plans to perform early tests to shoot sunlight-reflecting particles into the high atmosphere to slow or reverse global warming. These research efforts, which could take shape as soon as the first half of 2019, […]
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It’s been 18 months since Robert Mueller took over the Russia investigation, and still nobody really knows what he’ll do next. The Daily Beast reported on Thursday morning that the special counsel’s inquiry is entering a new phase focused on influence from Middle Eastern countries. Later that evening, The Washington Post reported that final sentencing […]
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Since reentering politics several years ago, Donald Trump has defined himself in opposition to a single figure: Barack Obama. He was the leading proponent of birtherism in 2011, and continued to promote the conspiracy theory publicly until 2015. (He reportedly has remained a birther in private.) Some believe Trump only decided to run for president […]
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Since reentering politics several years ago, Donald Trump has defined himself in opposition to a single figure: Barack Obama. He was the leading proponent of birtherism in 2011, and continued to promote the conspiracy theory publicly until 2015. (He reportedly has remained a birther in private.) Some believe Trump only decided to run for president […]
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“Scottish Limited Partnerships are used by thousands of legitimate British businesses – from pension schemes to owning farm land in Scotland – to invest more than £30 billion in the UK a year. We have seen mounting evidence that in their current form they are vulnerable to abuse. Last year it emerged more than 100 […]
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By Jen Schradie, Assistant Professor, Observatoire sociologique du changement, Axa Research Fund Fellow, Sciences Po – USPC. Originally published at The Conversation In less than a month, France’s gilets jaunes (yellow vests) have gone from being a celebrated example of Facebook’s ability to power a spontaneous revolution to a cautionary tale of how social networks […]
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