Apparently Not at the Hawk ‘n’ Dove – The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The government is so dysfunctional here that it might well lead one to seek out strong drink. But where to go? Are bars as divided as members of Congress these days? The government dysfunction is especially…
Study: Google and Meta Owe News Publishers at Least $12 Billion
Congress Passes Stopgap Spending Bill, Averting Government Shutdown
By Jennifer Shutt – Maryland Matters – WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. senators voted 87-11 to approve legislation Wednesday that would fund the government into next year, clearing the measure for President Joe Biden’s signature. The stopgap spending bill, sometimes called a continuing resolution or CR, would fund part of the government until mid-January and the…
New National Climate Assessment Documents Far-Reaching Perils of Global Warming
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Massive changes in the climate due to global warming from the burning of fossil fuels for energy and transportation is deadly and expensive, but some of the most extreme impacts could be prevented if there was the political will to take on the challenges, according to the new…
Steve Bannon Belongs Behind Bars, Not on Some Podcast Promoting Trump’s Extremism
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. â Next to Donald Trump himself, the guy who belongs high on the list of those who should be behind bars for threatening democracy itself and screwing up the world is Steve Bannon. He helped Trump get elected in the final months of the presidential election in 2016 by…
The Changing Nature of What’s Considered ‘Cool’ in the U.S.
New FBI Headquarters Will Be Built in Greenbelt, Maryland
By Jennifer Shutt – Maryland Matters – ANNAPOLIS, Md. — After years of wrangling between politicians in Virginia and Maryland, it appears the new Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters will be built just north of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Maryland, according to a statement from the General Services Administration. The Greenbelt site appears to have…
Biden Administration Accelerates Removal of Lead Pipes With $15 Billion in New Spending
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Are you better off than you were three years ago? That’s a perennial question that pops up like a weed every four years in Washington politics, or at least the media coverage of it. Think about it. Three years ago, in November 2020, the global Covid-19 pandemic was at…
The Times Buried the Lede: A Criminal Conviction Would End Trump’s Chances of Being Elected President Again
Public Opinion – National Politics – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Wait just a doggone minute. Did The New York Times just bury the lede? In the Sunday Times, a banner headline promoting a public opinion story about the 2024 presidential election proclaimed that President Joe Biden was trailing former President Donald Trump…
Budget Gridlock in Congress Could Carry Over Into 2024 Election Year
By Jennifer Shutt – Maryland Matters – ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Congress will need to pass a second stopgap funding measure before Thanksgiving if lawmakers want to avoid a government shutdown, though pushing off final decisions on full-year spending bills until next year would put lawmakers smack dab in the middle of what’s expected to be…
The Emerging ‘Come Retribution’ if Trump Sidesteps Jail and Gets Elected President Again
House Speaker Mike Johnson Says He’s ‘A Steadfast Christian’ but ‘I Refuse to Put People Over Politics’
House Votes to Approve Aid for Israel With No Money for Ukraine
Alabama Journalists Arrested for Investigating Mishandling of Covid Funds
Staff Report – Freedom of the Press Foundation – An Alabama newspaper publisher and reporter were arrested last week and charged under a grand jury secrecy statute for the “crime” of reporting on a grand jury subpoena provided by a source. The publisher, Sherry Digmon, was arrested again — this time for soliciting ads from…
PEPCO to Pay More than $57 Million for Polluting the Anacostia River
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — In one of the largest and most significant corporate pollution settlements in the history of electric power and the law, Potomac Electric Power has agreed to pay more than $57 million to help mitigate contamination of the Anacostia River from its power plants. We just received the press…
A Majority of Americans Favor Stricter Gun Laws: Not the Republicans in Congress
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — A majority of Americans favor stronger gun control laws, opinions that are at odds with the Republicans in Congress, where doing anything about guns is a non-starter in spite of a major spike in deadly mass shootings in the United States over the past few years. According to the…
Blurring the Line Between Reality and the Fake: How to Regulate Damaging New Technology
Some Christians See Israel-Hamas War as Fulfillment of Prophecy?
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — It was just a matter of time. Too bad we don’t have televangelist Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell around anymore to remind us so we can run stories making fun of them. Give Mike Johnson, the new Louisiana Christian conservative Speaker of the House,…
Louisiana Conservative Elected Speaker of the House
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Little known Louisiana arch-conservative Mike Johnson managed to do what others could not. He managed to get 220 votes and was elected Speaker of the House on Wednesday, bringing an end to three weeks of chaos that left the chamber without a leader and put Republican divisions on display…
Meta’s Facebook and Instagram Harm Mental Health, Federal Lawsuits Allege
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown, along with 41 other state Attorneys General, filed a series of federal and state lawsuits against Meta this week, alleging that the company knowingly designed and deployed harmful features on Instagram and Facebook and its other social media platforms with the intent of…