Would it surprise you to know that three months after Congress slapped veto-proof sanctions on Russia, the Trump administration has yet to implement them? That six months after three congressional committees began investigating the Trump campaign's collusion with Russia to sabotage Hillary Clinton's campaign they are hopelessly bogged down in White House-fueled partisan … [Read more...] about (UPDATE III) The Wizard Is In Yuge Trouble As Charges Loom In The Fake-News Russia Probe
Trump’s Approval Rating Drops to Lowest Level Yet in New NBC News/WSJ Poll
President Donald Trump continues to sink the polls as quickly as Steve Bannon's prospects of being made an honorary member of the Anti-Defamation League: President Donald Trump’s job approval rating has declined to the lowest point of his presidency, and nearly half of voters want their vote in the 2018 midterms to be a message for more Democrats in Congress to check … [Read more...] about Trump’s Approval Rating Drops to Lowest Level Yet in New NBC News/WSJ Poll
Madrid wins international backing over breakaway Catalonia
Spain's allies in Europe and the United States rallied behind Madrid on Friday after Catalonia's regional parliament declared independence in an escalating standoff. Catalan MPs passed the motion by 70 votes to 10 -- in a ballot boycotted by the opposition -- in a move that threatens the stability of Spain and the European Union. Madrid… … [Read more...] about Madrid wins international backing over breakaway Catalonia
How could I have been so stupid?
WASHINGTON -- I was amazed by the #MeToo outpouring by women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted. So many women I know have been victims, and yet, I marveled, I had spent my career in charmed workplaces where such things didn't happen. But this week I learned that, earlier in my career, I worked in a place that was the very definition of a hostile work environment … [Read more...] about How could I have been so stupid?
Dark Money Co-opts the IRS and No One Says A Word
This meme was mainstreamed by Rupert Murdoch The comatose mainstream news media ignored the story yesterday, preferring instead to act as amanuenses to the GOP's alt-Russia conspiracy lunacy (see my post "The GOPpelgänger Cometh", and Jonathan Chait's New York Magazine story of two days later, with essentially the same analysis). Here's a typical "report" on it: Justice … [Read more...] about Dark Money Co-opts the IRS and No One Says A Word
Book Review: ‘Dorothy Brooke and the Fight to Save Cairo’s Lost War Horses’
Grant Hayter-Menzies’ new book, Dorothy Brooke and the Fight to Save Cairo’s Lost War Horses, is an eye opener not only for horse and animal lovers, but for all history enthusiasts. First, some background. In August of this year, the United States Marine Corps’ last remaining mounted color guard celebrated their 5oth year in service (below). U.S. Marine Corps … [Read more...] about Book Review: ‘Dorothy Brooke and the Fight to Save Cairo’s Lost War Horses’
Cartoon: the headache of Spain
Exclusive: Bill Browder Speaks Out on Putin, Sanctions
Bill Browder may seem like a mild-mannered financier, but he is, perhaps, nemesis number one for Russian President Vladimir Putin. The 53-year-old is the CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, once the largest foreign investor in Russia. But in 2006, the authorities kicked him out of the country, calling him a threat to national security. The American-born… … [Read more...] about Exclusive: Bill Browder Speaks Out on Putin, Sanctions
Jeff Flake is out, and Roy Moore is in. Heaven help us.
WASHINGTON -- Out: Jeff Flake. In: Roy Moore. This week brought a clarifying moment in the sad denouement of the once-proud GOP into an organ of grievance and intolerance. Flake, a Republican from Arizona, said he was retiring from the Senate. This honorable man and faithful conservative followed another good man, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., in concluding that there is no … [Read more...] about Jeff Flake is out, and Roy Moore is in. Heaven help us.
Cartoon: Hannity Insanity
First charges filed in special US probe on Russia meddling: report
A Washington grand jury on Friday approved the first charges in the probe led by independent prosecutor Robert Mueller, CNN reported Friday, citing sources briefed on the matter. The approval of the charges -- details of which remain unclear -- would mark a major step forward in the sweeping investigation into potential links between President Donald… … [Read more...] about First charges filed in special US probe on Russia meddling: report
UN reports horrific violations of LGBT rights
“Horrific violations” of the human rights of LGBT people continue unabated and their defenders are also being increasingly targeted, a UN expert reported today. “LGBT people are suffering a crucible of egregious violations, including killings, rape, mutilation, torture, arbitrary detention, abduction, harassment, physical and mental assaults,” said the UN’s first Independent … [Read more...] about UN reports horrific violations of LGBT rights
Senator Versus Demagogue and History’s Verdict
Bravo to the Republican senator who stood tall in the chamber and assailed a Republican demagogue for his disgraceful reliance on "the Four Horsemen of Calumny - Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear." Bravo to the senator for insisting, with virtually no support from cowered colleagues, that "it's high time for the United States Senate and its members to do some soul-searching, … [Read more...] about Senator Versus Demagogue and History’s Verdict
We now have proof that conservation funding works
Most of what we hear about the state of biodiversity is bleak-usually more species are severely threatened and going extinct. Perhaps you think that what we do contribute to help the world's plants and animals does little to help. A study published in Nature has just proved that conservation money in the past 25 years has… … [Read more...] about We now have proof that conservation funding works
Cartoon and Column: Dum Dum Diss Dossier
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Christopher Steele, a former MI6 operative compiled a dossier listing links between Donald Trump and Russia’s ongoing attacks against American democracy. Mainly, in how they were planting chaos in our nation and attempting to help elect Trump to the presidency…which is redundant. Trump and his sycophants claim the dossier is “fake … [Read more...] about Cartoon and Column: Dum Dum Diss Dossier
MSNBC political analyst Mark Halperin put on leave over sexual harassment claims
Political journalist and author Mark Halperin was pulled Thursday from his contributor's role at MSNBC after a report that he sexually harassed five women during his tenure at ABC News. Five women who worked with Halperin when he was political director of ABC News in the early 2000s told CNN that he propositioned them or touched… … [Read more...] about MSNBC political analyst Mark Halperin put on leave over sexual harassment claims
With both parties in crisis, turmoil is the new normal
WASHINGTON -- Donald Trump is not the disease that afflicts our politics. He's a symptom, like nausea or an embarrassing rash. Both major parties are in crisis, and I believe the reason is that the ground has shifted beneath them in ways they do not understand. Until the contours of the new political landscape become clear and the parties reshape themselves accordingly, I … [Read more...] about With both parties in crisis, turmoil is the new normal
Long-Awaited JFK Papers Release Is a Big Nothingburger With A Side of Mustard
There is disappointment abroad in the land today among tin-foil had aficionados and Warren Commission skeptics alike: John F. Kennedy is still dead, Lee Harvey Oswald still did it, and the shadowy roles of the CIA and FBI in his assassination are likely to remain just that. There may yet be nuggets in the mammoth document dump by the National Archives, parts of which … [Read more...] about Long-Awaited JFK Papers Release Is a Big Nothingburger With A Side of Mustard
#MeToo … And
They say you always remember your first time. The first time I was sexually assaulted, I was sixteen years old. I had not long started a job working as a kitchen porter at a third-rate pub-restaurant and had been moved from the kitchen to the restaurant floor to wait tables, in which role I had a new manager. My manager liked the shape of my ass in the tight black … [Read more...] about #MeToo … And
‘Hateful’ town illegally targeted Orthodox Jews, state says
MAHWAH -- Fearing an influx of Orthodox Jews from New York State, the Township of Mahwah passed two hateful and discriminatory ordinances that illegally targeted that community, the state Attorney General's office alleged in a stunning complaint filed against the town on Tuesday. The harsh public rebuke of both the actions of Mahwah's elected officials and… … [Read more...] about ‘Hateful’ town illegally targeted Orthodox Jews, state says