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Mother Jones

Nikki Haley Refuses to Drop Out, Even as She Prepares to Lose South Carolina

Nikki Haley is…still running. Even if she’s almost certain to lose her home state. That’s essentially the summary of a speech the former South Carolina governor delivered Tuesday in Greenville, South Carolina, ahead of the state’s Republican primary on Saturday, as multiple polls predict a loss to Trump by a margin of anywhere from 20 to […]

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RFK Jr. Super PAC Puts Promoters of Conspiracy Theories on the Payroll

A songwriter who produces rap songs with conspiracy theories about Covid; an academic who has championed debunked and bizarre notions about 9/11, the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, the 2020 election, and other public events; a polygraph examiner who wrote a novel tying Russian mobsters and sexual predators who exploit disabled children to a government […]

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Mother Jones

RFK Jr. Super-PAC Puts Promoters of Conspiracy Theories on the Payroll

A songwriter who produces rap songs with conspiracy theories about Covid; an academic who has championed debunked and bizarre notions about 9/11, the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, the 2020 election, and other public events; a polygraph examiner who wrote a novel tying Russian mobsters and sexual predators who exploit disabled children to a government […]

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At the UN, the US Vetoes a Ceasefire Resolution—and Proposes Another One

After being the only member of the UN Security Council to twice veto resolutions calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, the Biden administration is preparing a ceasefire proposal of its own. Al Jazeera on Monday reported that the US-authored resolution would fall considerably short of what many critics of Israeli and American policy […]

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The Long Era of Republican Gerrymandering in Wisconsin May Finally Be Over

The long era of Republican gerrymandering in Wisconsin may finally be coming to an end. Last week, the Republican-controlled legislature approved new maps submitted by Democratic Governor Tony Evers that will significantly reduce GOP majorities in both chambers. Evers signed the legislation on Monday. “It is a new day in Wisconsin, and today is a […]

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Leslie Jamison on Finding “Infinitude” in Motherhood

Midway through Leslie Jamison’s new memoir, Splinters, the writer takes her infant daughter to see a Garry Winogrand exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. In Winogrand’s photos, which depict patrons at the New York Aquarium and Coney Island, Jamison finds “a church of regular life,” as she calls it. “Instead of showing saints, or biblical scenes, or stations of […]

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Another Big Question About AI: Its Carbon Footprint

This story was originally published by Yale E360 and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Two months after its release in November 2022, OpenAI’s ChatGPT had 100 million active users, and suddenly tech corporations were racing to offer the public more “generative AI” Pundits compared the new technology’s impact to the Internet, or electrification, or the […]

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Report: Trump-Branded NYC Real Estate Plummeted in Value Since 2016

Trump brags about pretty much everything—but particularly his wealth and his real estate. That was the basis of the civil fraud trial brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, which culminated on Friday when a judge ruled Trump must pay $355 million—or $453.5 million with interest, according to NBC News—after finding him liable of fraudulently […]

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Reagan’s Daughter: Cognitive Tests For Presidential Candidates Would Be ‘A Good Idea’

The daughter of the once-oldest president, Ronald Reagan, who was 77 when he took office, thinks cognitive tests for presidential candidates would be “a good idea,” she said in an interview that aired Sunday. “Just what we know about what age can do, it doesn’t always do that, but it would probably be a good […]

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Trump Supporters Are Donating to a GoFundMe To Pay His $355 Million Legal Fine

How will Trump pay his mounting legal bills? It’s a fair question, considering that a New York judge ruled on Friday that he owes $355 million for inflating his net worth to banks and insurance companies, as my colleague Russ Choma reported. The total amount comes to more than $453 million with interest, according to […]

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Why Trump’s Sleaziest Criminal Case Is So Important

Editor’s note: The below article first appeared in David Corn’s newsletter, Our Land. The newsletter comes out twice a week (most of the time) and provides behind-the-scenes stories and articles about politics, media, and culture. Subscribing costs just $5 a month—but you can sign up for a free 30-day trial of Our Land here. Since the beginning of Donald Trump’s indictment-o-rama, the […]

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Here’s How Ski Resorts Are Adapting to Climate Change

This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Trudging across the top of Bromley Mountain Ski Resort on a sunny afternoon in January, Matt Folts checks his smartwatch and smiles: 14 degrees Fahrenheit. That is very nearly his favorite temperature for making snow. It’s cold enough for water to quickly […]

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This Week’s Episode of Reveal: Journalism and Protest at the Dawn of AIDS

This week’s episode of Reveal features WNYC’s Kai Wright and the Nation‘s Lizzy Ratner, hosts of New York Public Radio and the History Channel’s Blindspot: The Plague in the Shadows. Wright and Ratner take on the history and politics of the early AIDS crisis, surveying contemporary media coverage, community responses, and the enduring waves of activism […]

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Ohio Law Requires a Transgender Man to Use His Deadname on State Legislature Ballot

A Democratic candidate for the Ohio Senate is a transgender man who has long gone by the name Ari Faber, but a 1995 law will require the state’s upcoming March primary ballots to use the name he was given at birth: Iva Faber. Title 35, Section 3513.271 of Ohio Revised Code requires that “[i]f any […]

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Shoebox Lady Is Not Alone—Americans Got Scammed For More Than $10 Billion in 2023

Who among us has not handed $50,000 cash in a shoebox to a purported undercover CIA agent in an SUV with tinted windows because a fake FTC investigator told us to? Well, I haven’t. Nor do I have a stray $50,000 to give. Still, a February 9 report from the real Federal Trade Commission reveals […]

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Biden Blames Putin for Aleksei Navalny’s Death, Urges Ukraine Funding

At a televised White House press conference Friday, President Joe Biden rebuked the Kremlin for insisting that leading Russian dissident Aleksei Navalny simply lost consciousness and died after taking a stroll in prison. “Make no mistake: [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death,” Biden said. “Putin is responsible. What has happened to Navalny […]

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Onslaught of Raw Sewage Near US-Mexico Border Is a Public Health Crisis

This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Raw sewage and runoff in the Tijuana River is exposing communities at the US-Mexico border to an unusual and noxious brew of pathogens and toxic chemicals, according to a report released this week. Billions of gallons of sewage flow through the […]

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Meta Wants to Make it Harder to See Political Content On Threads. What Does that Even Mean?

Earlier this week, Meta decided to create the grandest of Gordian knots for itself when Adam Mosseri, its executive in charge of Instagram and Threads, announced that the company doesn’t want Threads to “proactively amplify political content from accounts you don’t follow”—in effect, announcing the company hopes to limit how “political” content is spread and […]

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A New Study on Medication Abortion Refutes the Arguments Conservatives Are Taking to the Supreme Court

A key argument from anti-abortion activists bringing a case to the Supreme Court is that medication abortion—which accounts for more than half of all abortions nationwide, according to the Guttmacher Institute—is unsafe and ineffective. A new study provides even more evidence that this is not true and that medication abortion is just as safe when it’s prescribed […]

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“Did You Expect Anything Else?”: Kremlin Insiders Weigh in on Alexey Navalny’s Death

This story first appeared on Meduza, an independent, reader-supported Russian newsroom based in Latvia. Officials in the Kremlin’s political bloc see Alexey Navalny’s death as “a very negative development” — for Vladimir Putin’s reelection campaign. At the same time, members of the Putin administration do not expect the opposition politician’s demise to seriously affect the […]

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The NY Judge Just Ordered Trump to Pay $355 Million and Stop Doing Business in the State

A New York judge ruled on Friday that former President Donald Trump must pay $355 million and cease doing any business in New York for three years after being found liable for years of deceiving banks and insurance companies about his net worth. While Trump has said he will appeal the decision, if the ruling […]

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Report: Trump “Favors” a 16-Week National Abortion Ban

In the past, former President Donald Trump has promised a consensus on abortion, criticizing Republicans for being too stringent but without getting more specific. According to a report published in the New York Times this morning, Trump has landed on a limit that he thinks will do the job: a 16-week abortion ban. Citing “two […]

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Aleksei Navalny, Putin’s Most Prominent Critic in Russia, Is Dead

Aleksei Navalny, Russia’s most prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, has died in a remote prison near the Arctic Circle, the country’s penitentiary system announced on Friday. According to authorities, Navalny lost consciousness during a walk at the penal colony, where he had been imprisoned over charges of extremism. The high-security prison, known as “Polar […]

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Is It Illegal For the White House to Fight COVID Misinfo? Up to SCOTUS.

On March 18, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether the federal government overstepped its bounds by asking social media companies to adopt stricter policies in removing misinformation related to COVID-19 and tools to minimize its spread, such as masking and getting vaccinated. The plaintiffs—the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisana as well as private […]

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About to Break Down? You Might Be a Cybertruck.

At a live delivery event this November, where Elon Musk awkwardly opened the door for about a dozen new Cybertruck owners, he told the world: “The apocalypse can come along any moment, and here at Tesla, we have the best in apocalypse technology.” Then he showed a video of the vehicle being pummeled by a machine gun, […]

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Mother Jones

About to Break Down? You Might Be a Cybertruck.

At a live delivery event this November, where Elon Musk awkwardly opened the door for about a dozen new Cybertruck owners, he told the world: “The apocalypse can come along any moment, and here at Tesla, we have the best in apocalypse technology.” Then he showed a video of the vehicle being pummeled by a machine gun, […]

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Critics Say the RNC Wasted Money on Flowers and Limos. Will Trump’s Campaign Manager Put It Back On Track?

On Monday, former President Donald Trump issued a statement endorsing a slate of candidates for leadership at the Republican National Committee. Earlier this month, RNC chair Ronna McDaniel had offered to step down after the South Carolina primary amid mounting criticism from the party’s far-right flank. Among those Trump proposed taking over key party posts: […]

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The American Adoption System Isn’t What You Think It Is

Cassie was a 22-year-old college student working a part-time job when she found out she was pregnant. It was too late for an abortion, and parenting seemed off the table: She felt too poor, too unsupported by her family. When she went to an adoption agency, Cassie couldn’t stop weeping. But the staffers were warm, […]

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Some Alabamians Can’t Even Flush Their Toilets. The EPA Is Here to Help.

This story was originally published by Inside Climate News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Catherine Coleman Flowers has seen it all firsthand. She’s been to homes across the state where Alabamians can’t flush their toilets, the result of failing or nonexistent wastewater infrastructure. She can tell you about the families in the state’s […]

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Do You Have Experience With the Adoption Industry? Tell Us About it.

For decades, adoption has been portrayed as a win-win, helping babies who need homes and parents who want children. But the adoption industry can be confusing and coercive. Birth mothers may feel pressured into relinquishing their babies; adoptive parents may not know where to turn for reliable sources of information. In the absence of regulatory scrutiny, […]

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