Новости за 28.10.2021

Since The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page mainly exists to provide a steady stream of embarrassments to the paper’s news division, it’s hardly surprising that it chose to publish, without explanation, a letter from Donald Trump alleging that the 2020 election was “rigged” against him. Oh, you don’t say? The former president is still shaking his fist at reality from his Mar-a-Lago redoubt? This was one opinion pitch that could have easily been rejected, seeing as how it breaks no new ground. Читать дальше...

Charlie Kirk, the prominent leader of the right-wing Turning Point USA group, fielded a disturbing question from an audience member at an event in Idaho earlier this week. “At this point, we’re living under corporate and medical fascism,” the audience member told Kirk. “This is tyranny. When do we get to use the guns? No, and I’m not—that’s not a joke. I’m not saying it like that. I mean, literally, where’s the line? How many elections are they going to steal before we kill these people?”

One might think, following a tragedy of unimaginable scale, that there would be political will to provide some assistance to people to allow them to weather the unexpected without ruining their lives. But even under the extraordinary circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, the congresspeople who work far less than most Americans (for a base salary of $175,000) have declined to offer their constituents the most basic and widespread form of state support. A proposal for universal paid leave for new parents... Читать дальше...

Now The Atlantic knows how France felt when the United States and Great Britain muscled it aside to build nuclear submarines for Australia. NBC announced Wednesday that, starting next year, it will be the “exclusive media partner” for the Aspen Ideas Festival, for many years a reliable cash cow for Atlantic Media (though probably not since the Covid-19 pandemic began). But I think The Atlantic is better off without the Aspen Ideas Festival. That’s because I have an idea, developed through Council... Читать дальше...

Even as top Democrats were predicting that they were finally—really, truly!—on the verge of cementing an agreement on Joe Biden’s Build Back Better reconciliation package, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin was still throwing a wrench into the deal’s progress by reportedly nixing the already watered-down paid family leave portion of the bill.

Late last June, a fire broke out at an abandoned paper mill in the small town of Morris, about 60 miles south of Chicago. The firefighters who rushed to the scene discovered the plant’s warehouse contained an estimated 100 tons of lithium-ion batteries, as well as a “large quantity of lead/acid batteries, nickel cadmium batteries, solar panels, and other waste electronics,” according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Democrats have heard a lot, in recent weeks, about what they don’t want to hear. Earlier this month, The New York Times’ Ezra Klein ran a piece about the data analyst David Shor, the principal advocate of what’s being called popularism. Shor’s been everywhere over the past year—including in the pages of The New Republic. ⁠And Politico reported recently that he’s found a ready “audience with the White House.” “Some aides in the White House pay close attention to Shor’s analysis and have talked with him about his data... Читать дальше...

If a person wanted to participate fully in the model of “wealth redistribution” the investment startup Delphia purports to be offering, this is what they would do: First, they would download the company’s app and grant it access to various categories of personal information. If they opted in for every conceivable kind of data Delphia says it desires, then the app, through a partnership with a third-party contractor, would be able to read their emails to collect metadata and receipts. Delphia could... Читать дальше...

Last week, the New York City council held a hearing on the New York Police Department’s Special Victims Division, the unit that investigates rapes and other forms of sexual assault. In recent years, an increasingly harsh spotlight has been trained on the NYPD’s long-standing mishandling of rape cases. In 2018, the city’s internal watchdog issued a report critiquing the Special Victims Division, finding that it was not only understaffed but that its officers were ill equipped to competently investigate sexual violence. Читать дальше...