Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of the Interior held a press conference on Thursday afternoon to inform the press and the people about what they can expect to happen if and when Congress fails to compromise to keep the United States government open and running and forces a massive federal government shutdown…
Fighting the Civil War One More Time: Will 2024 be the Last Stand of the White Christian Nationalists?
A Coalition of States and the FTC Sue Amazon for Illegally Maintaining Monopoly Power
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Trade Commission and 17 states filed a lawsuit against the online retailer Amazon started by Jeff Bezos on Tuesday, setting up a long-awaited antitrust fight with the e-commerce giant that could alter the way Americans shop for everything from toilet paper to electronics. Maryland Attorney General Anthony…
Rupert Murdoch of Fox News Steps Down: Will the Rightward Tilt of America Continue or Peak in 2024?
National Parks Set Visitation and Economic Impact Record: Biden Administration Addresses Funding Shortfalls
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — While the American public appears to be divided on political issues these days and sometimes disagree on the role of government, there is one federal program most people love no matter what political party they vote for at election time: National Parks. Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns called this “America’s…
A ‘Disaster’ Nears: Millions of Federal Workers’ Paychecks Would Be on Hold in a Shutdown
By Jennifer Shutt – Maryland Matters – WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than 3.5 million federal employees and military personnel — many in the Washington, D.C., area but also scattered across the states and around the globe — are bracing for another partial government shutdown, as U.S. House Republicans struggle to produce a short-term plan to…
America Needs a Defense Bill That Puts Freedom Over Fascism
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. – While every news organization in the land was covering it and Democrats all over social media were watching cable TV talk shows and complaining about House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio’s grilling of Attorney General Merrick Garland over Hunter Biden’s laptop, a nothing burger of a story…
Revealed: The Republicans’ Three-Step Plan for Corporate Fascism
Guest Column – By Thom Hartmann – The Republican Party is increasingly clear about its goal: Make America Russia, or at least Russia’s mini-me, Hungary. They are openly embracing a modern, westernized, Christian white supremacy-based version of classic fascism. And the MAGAT Republicans have a three-step process to bring it about that they’re already putting…
Democracy Needs Moderated Forums, Not Hate-Filled Free-For-Alls
Big Problems Require Big Solutions: How to Save Democracy and the Planet
If Bork’s Thinking is Behind Google Strategy, Let’s All Boycott Google
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — After spending some time this week thinking about the world of 1687, when Sir Isaac Newton and the Royal Society of London published Principia Mathematica — with a little MAGA Republican distraction thrown in — I’ve stumbled on to another epiphany. Newton’s Laws Work:…
Newton’s Laws Work: Except in the House of Representatives
Fall Bird Migration Kicks Off Tuesday Sept. 12
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — A major fall bird migration will begin on the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 12, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology bird cast. “Bird migration forecasts show predicted nocturnal migration 3 hours after local sunset,” they say in an email blast. Their forecasts come from models trained on the…
New Report Shows Major Emissions Reductions in Electricity Sector from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new report claims that President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, billed as “the largest climate investment ever,” spurs major carbon dioxide emission reductions from the electricity sector and across the economy in the United States. The report, released Tuesday by the Environmental Protection Agency, finds that the Inflation Reduction…
Summer 2023 Ranks as the Hottest on Record ‘By a Large Margin’
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — It’s so hot in the middle of the day that the birds are not even moving around in the windless woods. The only thing moving are the yellow jackets and European hornets, looking for other bees to kill, the occasional blue-tailed lizard, going after the flies too hot…
Biden Administration Bans Oil and Gas Drilling on Millions of Acres in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — I remember the first time I heard a presentation on the need to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It was 1989, and an activist had traveled all the way from Alaska to Mobile,…
Presidential Centers Issue Joint Statement Urging Civility in Politics to Protect Democracy
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — A bland joint statement from a group of presidential centers made national news on Thursday warning about a threat to the future of democracy even though it overwhelmingly avoids identifying the real problem or recommending any solutions. The New York Times produced a story…
Proud Boys Leader Enrique Tarrio Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison for Seditious Conspiracy
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The former national chairman of the right-wing, pro-Trump Proud Boys organization was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison this week for seditious conspiracy and other charges related to the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions disrupted a joint session of Congress in the process…
More Proud Boys Leaders Sentenced to Prison for Roles in Jan. 6 Capitol Attack
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two former leaders of the right-wing, pro-Trump Proud Boys organization have been sentenced on multiple felony charges, including terrorism, related to their roles in the attack of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, for actions that disrupted a joint session of Congress in the process of certifying the…