Новости за 02.11.2022

As the Supreme Court deliberated on Monday over the legality of race-conscious college admissions, Justice Elena Kagan gave voice to a patriotic skepticism: “I thought that part of what it meant to be an American and to believe in American pluralism is that actually our institutions are reflective of who we are as a people in all our variety.” While affirmative action in college admissions may go by the wayside now that such matters are entirely tied to the whims of the high court’s conservative supermajority... Читать дальше...

On October 11, Tulsi Gabbard proudly announced her departure from the Democratic Party. Calling on “fellow common sense independent-minded Democrats” to join her, Gabbard did not indicate where exactly she was going. Her recent activity gives enough of an idea.

In a rare piece of good news, an Arizona judge has banned people accused of voter intimidation from monitoring the state’s ballot boxes ahead of the contentious midterm elections.

The main news takeaway from the Israeli elections Tuesday is that Bibi Netanyahu is apparently lined up to be prime minister again, thus avoiding prison (which some speculated was the main, Trump-like reason he ran in the first place) and sweeping back to power. His Likud Party will lead a right-wing bloc that may hold up to 65 seats in the 120-seat Knesset—a pretty substantial margin in a deeply divided country. 

Death, tax favors, and inequality: the certainties of American capitalism. Just last year, the 506 highest paid individuals in America made more money than the 30 million lowest paid full-time workers, according to a new analysis from DCReport.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s peaceful transfer of power to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, following his election loss, is thanks in large part to one man: top Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes.

Are we headed back to the 1970s? Politicians and pundits from across the political spectrum insist we are. They also make clear that nothing could be worse. Why is the decade so feared? What kinds of policy do the grim warnings justify? On episode 56 of The Politics of Everything, hosts Laura Marsh and Alex Pareene speak with the writer Aaron Timms about “nostophobia,” a term he coined to describe a condition that is something like the opposite of nostalgia, and “’70s syndrome,” the variant currently gripping our collective imagination. Читать дальше...

The plant-based meat industry has stumbled. When Beyond Meat released its plant-based “steak tips” last week, it did so still reeling from a $97 million net loss in the second quarter; staff layoffs are planned before the end of the year. That’s consistent with a Deloitte study released late September that found that, industry-wide, sales of “alternative proteins” had stalled and begun to backslide in 2021 and 2022. Even while a leveling off was predictable after a year of explosive growth, the report ventures a more ominous conclusion... Читать дальше...

Mark Finchem

For generations, Americans have asked, “Where were you when it happened?” The “it” is often wars beginning or ending, or tragedies like 9/11 or JFK’s assassination. In our current era, “it” may be January 6, 2021. And for Mark Finchem, the Republican nominee for Arizona secretary of state, the answer is simple: He was there.

A member of the Arizona House of Representatives since 2015, Finchem says he never got closer than 500 yards to the U.S. Capitol and was only there... Читать дальше...

For Utah Democrats, the decision to abandon party loyalty in favor of political pragmatism came over bagels and coffee—and orange juice for the decaffeinated members of the Church of Latter-day Saints in attendance. In the weeks leading up to the state’s primary, Ben McAdams, a former Democratic Utah congressman and Salt Lake County mayor, congregated members of the party in his family’s Salt Lake City living room to encourage them to join him in throwing their support behind an independent candidate instead of a Democrat. Читать дальше...

At one point in George Orwell’s 1984, protagonist Winston Smith copies into his diary a passage from a children’s history textbook that describes the oppressors whom the revolution had supposedly banished, an almost mythological creature known as a capitalist. “They were fat, ugly men with wicked faces,” the textbook says, who owned everything and were the only ones allowed to wear top hats. “When any ordinary person spoke to a capitalist he had to cringe and bow to him, and take off his cap and... Читать дальше...