Новости за 13.01.2021

Congress hasn’t been immune to violence among its members over the past 200 years. In her book The Field of Blood, which delves into lawmakers’ unruly behavior in the early republic, historian Joanne Freeman wrote that she had uncovered “more than seventy violent incidents between congressmen in the House and Senate chambers or on nearby streets and dueling grounds, most of them long forgotten,” between 1830 and 1860. Nearly every American high school student learns about Preston Brooks, the Southern... Читать дальше...

In the wake of the deadly January 6 raid on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump, some Republicans have broken away to support impeachment or otherwise criticize the president for catalyzing the mob. Leading the charge, according to some dewy-eyed commentators, are former Vice President Dick Cheney and his scion, Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming.

In the wake of last week’s Capitol riot, the path to Congress now includes a metal detector. To secure the chamber, Capitol police set up a security checkpoint outfitted with a series of magnometers. Like most people who have ever boarded a plane, attended public high school in the last 20 years, or gone to any professional sporting event, members of Congress are now being asked to empty their pockets and take out their electronic devices. Despite this ubiquity, congressional Republicans are upset. Читать дальше...

As its boosters have long argued, remote work offers any number of obvious benefits. Companies save money on rent; employees don’t have to commute; and everyone, without the distractions of the office, can be more efficient. But for decades, telecommuting simply failed to take hold. On Episode 23 of The Politics of Everything, hosts Laura Marsh and Alex Pareene talk with the writer Richard Cooke about why, and what our historical reluctance to work from home augurs for the future.

A transcript of Episode 23 of The Politics of Everything, “Against Remote Work”

In the past week, a number of oil and gas companies have issued statements of concern about the January 6 attack on the Capitol. BP, ConocoPhillips, Marathon Petroleum Corporation, and the Independent Petroleum Association of America—a trade association—even announced in recent days that they would suspend political donations for the short term, rather than continuing to fund the politicians and institutions that incited the raid. “The violence in Washington, D.C. tarnishes a two-century tradition... Читать дальше...

Consumers who invest in cryptoassets “should be prepared to lose all their money,” the U.K’s Financial Conduct Authority warned cryptocurrency investors on Monday. That message came amid an 11 percent decline in the price of Bitcoin, the industry’s premier asset, whose value had tripled in the last three months. But it’s a warning that might also apply to holders of a cryptocurrency that’s supposed to be one of the pillars of this innovative financial system.