As street violence between white supremacist brawlers and anti-fascist counterparts has become a staple of modern U.S. political discord, the commentariat has repeatedly been reduced to asking a first-grader’s question: Who started it? Blame for initiating physical scraps at such events is often a murky thing. But it’s been assigned substantial importance ever since the […]
Nowhere in an 1,800-word executive order to address forest management and wildfires — quietly issued on Friday — does President Donald Trump draw a connection between climate change and increased wildfire risk. Instead, critics say it looks like a potential handout to the logging industry. Extreme heat and years of ongoing drought, both linked to climate […]
Donald Trump announced Sunday that he’s removing Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis at the beginning of the new year — two months earlier than Mattis planned to depart the Pentagon. Trump apparently made the decision to remove Mattis after discovering, days after Mattis submitted a letter of resignation, that this letter was highly critical of Trump. […]
The Death Penalty Information Center’s annual report on capital punishment in the United States reveals a striking trend. Few American states are handing down death sentences, and even fewer actually executed anyone in 2018. In total, just 25 people were executed in the United States in 2018, and 42 people received death sentences. Only eight […]
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin promised the world on Sunday that things are going great regarding major banks’ ability to lend support to business growth and consumer spending. Taking a pause from his holiday travel in Mexico, Mnuchin called up the heads of six of the country’s largest banks to ask them about their lending capacity. He […]
With just over a week left before the new Congress convenes on January 3, incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has yet to offer her support for the creation of a House select committee on a Green New Deal. Supporters of a select committee were caught off guard when news came out last Thursday that […]
Chief Justice John Roberts handed down a fairly routine order over the weekend, which temporarily halts a pending case until the rest of his Court has time to consider the matter. Yet, while orders briefly pausing cases are common at the Supreme Court, everything else about this case is bizarre. It involves a mystery company […]