Author: TheGuardian

An Era of Unrest: Risk of public violence over abortion is growing regardless of what Supreme Court decides

Civil wars do not always begin with gunfire. Sometimes civil wars begin with learned arguments. In April 1861, Confederate forces shot on Fort Sumter, but at the time even Jefferson Davis, the Confederate president, had doubts about whether the event mattered all that much. It was, he claimed, “either the beginning of a fearful war, or the end of a political contest.” He could not say which. During the decades that preceded the assault on Fort Sumter, complex legal and political fissures had been working their way through the United States, slowly rendering the country ungovernable and opening the...

Read More

New report reveals an alarming number of products at discount stores contain harmful chemicals

An alarming number of products purchased at dollar stores, including many children’s toys, contain harmful chemicals, according to a report released on April 12. Researchers tested 226 products purchased at five popular retailers for chemicals, including phthalates and lead, and found that 120, or more than half, had at least one chemical of concern. Among the products that tested positive were colorful baby toys and Disney-themed headphones. “As a parent, I should be able to buy a product without expecting to poison my child,” said Jose Bravo, national coordinator at the Campaign for Healthier Solutions, a coalition that calls...

Read More

When brute power prevails: Peaceful disobedience only works against regimes with an ability to feel shame

History is teetering on an edge. No one knows which way it will go. Maybe the Russian empire, the last and most terrible of the European empires, will fall. Or maybe it will absorb the hit and survive as it has and expanded since the 17th century. The graveyards of Eurasia are full of those who foolishly bet against it. And yet the breathtaking heroism of the Ukrainian resistance and the insane self-delusion of the Putinist regime are allowing Russia’s opponents from Syria to Central Asia, and from Georgia to Moldova, to ask that most revolutionary of questions: “What...

Read More

Officials warn that Putin may use support for Ukraine as pretext to further interfere in American politics

Vladimir Putin may use the Biden administration’s support for Ukraine as a pretext to order a new campaign to interfere in American politics, US intelligence officials have assessed. Intelligence agencies have not found any evidence Putin has authorized measures like the ones Russia is believed to have undertaken in the 2016 and 2020 elections in support of Donald Trump, according to several people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity. But given Putin’s antipathy toward the west and his repeated denunciations of Ukraine, officials believe he may see the U.S. backing of Ukraine’s resistance as a...

Read More

Hate Speech: New study finds that propaganda for White Supremacy hit historically high levels in 2021

The propagation of White Supremacist propaganda in the United States remained at historically high levels in 2021 despite a small recent dip, a new study from the Anti-Defamation League has revealed. ADL’s research found that although 2021 data indicated a 5% drop in incidents of distributing White supremacist propaganda from 2020 – with 4,851 cases reported, compared with 5,125 the year before – the numbers remain at worryingly serious levels. Throughout 2021, White Supremacist propaganda was reported in all states except Hawaii. The highest levels of propaganda activity occurred in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Texas, Massachusetts, Washington, Maryland and New York....

Read More

A Kremlin Coup: What fantasies about replacing Putin forget is another madman always waits in reserve

Vladimir Putin’s full-blown invasion of Ukraine aimed at toppling the Kyiv government, based on the preposterous claim that it is run by “neo-Nazis,” has produced Europe’s worst war in a generation, and it has taken a terrible toll on civilians. The Russian armed forces have hit hospitals, apartment buildings, a shopping center and a theater that was serving as a shelter. The immense suffering has been made worse by sieges, above all the one around Mariupol, large parts of which have also been reduced to rubble. The war has also forced millions from their homes. The UN high commissioner...

Read More