Mother Jones
In June, Texas authorities installed the first segment of an anti-migrant floating barrier in the Rio Grande, the 1,900-mile waterway separating the state’s southwest from northern Mexico. The structure, which consists of metal saw blades strung between large buoys, sits along a thousand-foot stretch of the river near Eagle Pass, a busy crossing point on […]
Mother JonesRudy Giuliani sued President Joe Biden in New Hampshire on Wednesday, alleging that Biden had defamed him by calling Giuliani a “Russian pawn” during a 2020 presidential debate in Nashville. Suing the president under any circumstances is hard. And Giuliani faces another problem: There’s a lot of evidence that appears to support Biden’s claim. The […]
Mother JonesOn April 15, 2009, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the California Republican, brought Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the leader of the House GOP caucus, to a rally in his home town of Bakersfield. It was Tax Day, and in 200 or so cities across the nation, a new political force called the tea party was staging […]
Mother JonesIn June, Democratic advisers began circulating the usual warning: The party needed to change its message. As the Washington Post explained, focus group testing had shown that the slogan of “‘economic fairness’ was a loser.” Instead, Democrats should talk about “growing the middle class.” Soon, leaders like Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by Inside Climate News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Apple’s recent announcement of its first-ever “carbon neutral” product was questioned in a new report by a Chinese environmental research organization that gathers and tracks data on greenhouse gas emissions from China’s manufacturing sector, which makes the majority of […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by Inside Climate News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Apple’s recent announcement of its first-ever “carbon neutral” product was questioned in a new report by a Chinese environmental research organization that gathers and tracks data on greenhouse gas emissions from China’s manufacturing sector, which makes the majority of […]
Mother JonesThe Campbell County Public Library is a handsome, low-slung building in the center of the small city of Gillette, Wyoming. Steps lead up to two sturdy stone columns that support an overhang, where patrons can sit on benches protected from the summer’s baking sun or the winter’s driving prairie snow. A tidy garden of wildflowers […]
Mother JonesThe Campbell County Public Library is a handsome, low-slung building in the center of the small city of Gillette, Wyoming. Steps lead up to two sturdy stone columns that support an overhang, where patrons can sit on benches protected from the summer’s baking sun or the winter’s driving prairie snow. A tidy garden of wildflowers […]
Mother JonesOn Wednesday, an estimated 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers across five states and Washington DC walked out in the largest health care workers strike in US history. After several days of negotiations over fair labor practices and higher wages, company and union members failed to reach a compromise. Both groups “are still at the bargaining table, […]
Mother JonesEditor’s note: This essay is anonymous in order to protect the writer from potential reprisals. Yevgeny Prigozhin, co-founder of the notorious private military company Wagner, died in a fiery crash in August when his private jet exploded in midair and went down near Tver’, midway between St. Petersburg and Moscow. Western media outlets were quick […]
Mother JonesEditor’s note: This essay is anonymous in order to protect the writer from potential reprisals. Yevgeny Prigozhin, co-founder of the notorious private military company Wagner, died in a fiery crash in August when his private jet exploded midair and went down near Tver’, halfway between St. Petersburg and Moscow. Western media outlets were quick to […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Environmentalists have condemned a “ludicrous” private jet service that transports wealthy people’s dogs, which this week ran its first flight from Dubai to London. For $9,855 one way, customers were able to sit with their dogs on their laps and sip […]
Mother JonesIn January, a small faction of right-wing House Republicans relented in their efforts to sink Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s bid to become House speaker. Their support came at a price. Among several concessions, McCarthy (R-Calif.) agreed to lower the number of Republican members required to initiate the process to oust him from the speakership from five […]
Mother JonesIt’s a riveting, baffling, and/or solemn day in this country when the highest court must step in to adjudicate a definitional dispute as basic as this: Does “and” mean “and”? Or does it mean “or”? Lower courts want to know. As do legal scholars, criminal defendants, and copy editors everywhere. The Supreme Court heard oral […]
Mother JonesOn June 13, 2013, the Brazilian military police attacked the journalist Vincent Bevins. A foreign correspondent in São Paulo working for the Los Angeles Times and the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, Bevins was covering a protest by Movimento Passe Livre (MPL)—an anarcho-punk collective with a “leaderless” structure—pushing for a reduction in the price of the […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by the Inside Climate News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. In a hearing last month in Arizona, an expert witness for the state’s largest utility said he agrees with the idea that utilities oppose rooftop solar because it is a threat to their profits. If ever there […]
Mother JonesAfter becoming blind in his late 20s, designer and artist Marco Salsiccia had to learn to navigate the world through assistive technology—like a screen reader, software that speaks digital text and image descriptions aloud. Leveraging that experience, Salsiccia began work as an accessibility specialist, eventually working part-time at a well-known tech startup based in San […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by High Country News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Lightning strikes in a dry forest and starts a wildfire. It’s a hot, windy day, and the embers quickly spread. Smoke rises, and it’s detected, sometimes by satellites, lookouts or people who call 911. Reports bombard an interagency […]
Mother JonesTwo days after Dianne Feinstein’s death, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) has chosen her replacement. On Sunday, Newsom announced that Laphonza Butler, president of the pro-choice political action committee EMILY’s List, will fill the seat of the late California senator. Butler will be the second Black woman and the first openly LGBTQ member to serve as […]
Mother JonesWhen Robert F. Kennedy Jr. held a swanky fundraiser for his presidential campaign last month in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, much of the news focused on the anti-vaxxer and conspiracy theorist‘s celebrity guest: musician Eric Clapton. The legendary guitarist—who has promoted vaccine disinformation and who has a history of racist remarks—played for […]
Mother JonesThere is no way to explain who the Bronze Age Pervert is in conversation without causing the person listening to, at least for a moment, question your sanity. “There’s this guy who posts pseudonymously under the name ‘Bronze Age Pervert,’ but he’s also no longer really pseudonymous, and has a PhD in philosophy from Yale.” […]
Mother JonesLike an estimated two-thirds of the world’s population, I don’t digest lactose well, which makes the occasional latte an especially pricey proposition. So it was a pleasant surprise when, shortly after moving to San Francisco, I ordered a drink at Blue Bottle Coffee and didn’t have to ask—or pay extra—for a milk alternative. Since 2022, […]
Mother JonesJohnson & Johnson announced on Friday that the company will not enforce patents for the lifesaving tuberculosis treatment bedaquiline in 134 low- and middle-income countries globally. Bedaquiline, which was approved in 2012, is an essential part of treatment for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, also known as MDR-TB. MDR-TB impacts half a million people annually, and 200,000 of […]
Mother JonesIn just three days, the Kaiser Permanente union coalition could begin what they say will be the largest strike of health care workers in US history. On September 22, the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions issued notice of their intention to strike, indicating that more than 75,000 workers across five states and Washington, DC are […]
Mother JonesAfter more than three years, millions of Americans will be getting bills this month from the Department of Education as federal student loan repayments restart. Repayments were paused in March 2020 as a response to the financial hardship many faced in the onset of the Covid pandemic. But after Congress passed a law in June […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. This summer, the United States roasted like never before. People got third-degree burns from simply falling onto hot pavement in Arizona, filling up all the beds in Maricopa County’s burn center. High humidity teamed up with the Midwest’s worst heat wave in years […]
Mother JonesOn Saturday afternoon, after weeks of GOP squabbling in the House of Representatives, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) led his chamber in passing a bill to fund the government for 45 days. He did it, primarily, with the help of Democrats. The temporary spending bill passed 335–91; 209 Democrats and 126 Republicans voted in favor. In order […]
Mother JonesCalifornia Gov. Gavin Newsom has a tough decision to make: who he’ll appoint to temporarily replace the Senate vacancy created by the death of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who served in the upper chamber for more than three decades and wielded enormous influence over firearms policy, judicial selections, and more until her death Thursday. Three Democratic […]
Mother JonesIn the midst of hurricane and wildfire season, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is preparing to withhold billions in disaster funding until Congress passes a budget bill that refills its dwindling cash stock, according to a footnote in a FEMA document first reported by E&E News. In November, FEMA had roughly $23 billion in its disaster relief […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by the Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Senator Dianne Feinstein, who died on Thursday evening at the age of 90, leaves behind a long and complex legacy on climate and environmental issues. Feinstein represented California as a Democrat in the US Senate for more than 30 years, becoming […]