The essential political choice is no longer Democrat or Republican, left or right, liberal or conservative. It is democracy or authoritarian fascismOn Thursday, Joe Biden will deliver a primetime speech outside the old Independence Hall where the framers of the constitution met 235 years ago to establish the basic rules of our democratic form of government.His speech will focus on what the White House describes as the “battle for the soul of the nation” – the fight to protect that democracy. Continue reading...
Brandy Bottone argued that, given the supreme court’s overturning on Roe v Wade, there were two people in her carA pregnant woman from Texas who made news around the world after she protested against being cited for driving in a high-occupancy (HOV) lane in the wake of the state’s new anti-abortion law has been ticketed a second time.Brandy Bottone, 32 and from Plano, became an international sensation when she was issued her first traffic ticket for violating the HOV rules in June. Continue reading...
After court overturned 1911 New York law, state lawmakers produced act to create ‘gun-free zones’ and strengthen gun control measuresAfter a federal judge said New York could implement gun restrictions passed after the US supreme court struck down a century-old law, the state attorney general saluted “a victory in our efforts to protect New Yorkers”.“Responsible gun control measures save lives and any attempts by the gun lobby to tear down New York’s sensible gun control laws will be met with fierce defense of the law,” Letitia James said on Wednesday night. Continue reading...
Outdated terminology, racist gags, almost entirely white audiences … with just a few fantastic exceptions, fringe shows do not feel like they are for people like meI’m sitting in the audience of another Edinburgh fringe show. The month is in full swing and, as a reviewer, I’ve fallen into the pattern of rushing across the city from one venue to another to find my next seat. But, as I sit here, I have a growing sense of discomfort. Like the previous show, and the one before that, I’m the only person of colour in the audience.I fell in love with the fringe on my first visit to the festival when I was 17. There’s magic in the mass coming-together of creativity in Scotland’s capital. And, although a lack of diversity had always prevented me from feeling entirely at ease in the city, I still managed to sing the praises of a place that championed new, exciting talent and celebrated the wonder of art. But this year, the screaming lack of representation felt like a barrier too big to negotiate. Continue reading...
The fictional rapper FN Meka – designed by non-Black creators, with AI-created music – seems like the latest version of a minstrel showThe minstrel show has returned, riding on the apocalyptic horses of artificial intelligence, social media, and NFTs. FN Meka, a rapper created by artificial intelligence who gained TikTok fame through viral short music videos, exists. This fact itself is unfortunate. More unfortunate is that the artificial construct was temporarily signed to Capitol Records. The company dropped FN Meka in response to complaints from Industry Blackout, an activist organization of Black professionals in the entertainment industry, who accused the creators of engaging in racist stereotypes and a modern version of blackface.The journey to FN Meka and the rebirth of the minstrel show was slow, but obvious. Characters like Russel Hobbs of the Gorillaz are guilty of opening the doors for this form of digital blackface, but FN Meka presents a full leap into an older tradition. Instead of donning black makeup, white owners can now create their own Black artists from scratch, built with the racist biases inevitable when artificial intelligence is crafted under a white supremacist society.Akin Olla is a contributing opinion writer at the Guardian Continue reading...
Part of the key to collective action may be to overcome the ‘false social reality’ that makes us assume no one else cares about the climateAmerica is polarized, but a new study has revealed one issue on which the nation is surprisingly united: mitigating climate change.Yet Americans themselves underestimate the US population’s concern for the state of the climate and support for major climate mitigation policies – by a whopping 80–90%, according to researchers from Boston College, Princeton University and Indiana University Bloomington.Adrienne Matei is a freelance journalist Continue reading...
After successful unionization drives, experts say companies will ‘fight to the end’ to prevent the next stepOver the past year, workers at Starbucks, Amazon, Trader Joe’s and Apple have all achieved historic, hard-won union victories, but now many of these newly unionized workers fear they might face an even bigger challenge: negotiating a first union contract.Exhibit A for that challenge is the slow pace of progress at Starbucks. Unions have won elections at more than 220 stores. Many baristas are upset that Starbucks has begun negotiations with workers at only three of them. Continue reading...
Byron Smith registered to vote after a key amendment, but didn’t know he was ineligible – now he faces up to five years in prisonByron Smith was standing outside his house when the Tampa police officer put the handcuffs around his wrists. “What’s this about?” Smith asked, flustered, standing in the early afternoon Florida summer heat.Minutes later he was sitting in the back of a police cruiser, still trying to figure out why he was being placed under arrest, body camera footage obtained by the Guardian shows. “Did you vote?” the officer asked him. “Not this time, no,” Smith, 65, replied. “They took that right away from me.” The officer then told him a $1,000 bond had been set for him. “What’s the charge?” Smith asked. “It was for something about false voting and something else,” the officer said. Continue reading...
Former players such as Kenny Anderson and Reggie Theus are working to bring historically black colleges back to prominenceIn the summer of 2020, Makur Maker made headlines. The Kenyan-born South Sudanese-Australian athlete raised eyebrows because of where he chose to play. But unlike fellow five-star college recruits it wasn’t necessarily for the specific school he landed on. Instead, it was because of the type of school Maker chose. The then-16th ranked basketball recruit (according to ESPN) announced his decision to attend an HBCU. Specifically, Howard University.At the time, this was largely unheard of. For the past 50 years, schools like the University of North Carolina, Gonzaga, Georgetown and Duke have dominated college basketball recruiting. Historically Black colleges like Howard, Fisk, Bethune-Cookman, Jackson State and LeMoyne-Owen have not commonly been considered by standout players, nor have they often been run by coaches who’ve competed at the highest level. As such, HBCU squads have rarely made major waves in March Madness. Continue reading...
by Tumaini Carayol at Flushing Meadows on (#634MF)
The 40-year-old not only held herself to stratospheric standards against Anett Kontaveit, but somehow fully met themThroughout a breathless, intense first set during what could have been the last singles match of her career, Serena Williams stared down the No 2 player in the world, Anett Kontaveit, and responded to her challenge with an immaculate performance. In the second set, though, she was barely holding on. As she saved a break point at 1-3 with a sweet, curling ace, she raised her hands to the sky, enraged she could not find that shot each time she served.If this were any other 40-year-old in the history of tennis, with the rust of a one-year layoff and the nerves of her final event, such shortcomings would be expected. But this is Serena Williams. She not only held herself to stratospheric standards, but somehow fully met them during the delirious second night of her Arthur Ashe Stadium residency. In defeating Kontaveit, she delayed her singles retirement for another round by producing at least one last legendary moment in a career filled with them. Continue reading...
Peltola’s victory in the state’s first ranked choice voting election makes her the first Alaska Native to serve in the HouseThe Democrat Mary Peltola has won the special election for Alaska’s only US House seat, besting a field that included the Republican Sarah Palin, who was seeking a political comeback in the state where she was once governor.Peltola, who is Yup’ik and turned 49 on Wednesday, will become the first Alaska Native to serve in the House and the first woman to hold the seat. She will serve the remaining months of the late Republican US Representative Don Young’s term. Young held the seat for 49 years before his death in March. Continue reading...
Panel is tasked with recommending which US military assets should be renamed, to remove associations with ConfederatesA bronze plaque commemorating the Ku Klux Klan should be removed from the science centre at West Point, a congressional commission said, even though it falls outside the panel’s remit because the racist terror group was formed after the American civil war.The Naming Commission was established in March 2021, in the aftermath of the police murder of George Floyd and the protests for racial justice it inspired. Continue reading...
The past year has seen a resurgence in a century-old trend: trying to ride on top of New York trains, with horrific resultsThe video quickly went viral in June: a group of people dashing across the roof of a moving New York City J train. Captured from far off, the train can be seen about to cross the Williamsburg Bridge, with its 135-foot drop to the East River – yet the daredevils, dressed in black, leap from car to car.A similar stunt resulted in a far more horrifying clip days less than two weeks later, when a 15-year-old boy suffered a severe head injury while riding on top of a 7 train in Queens. Footage reviewed by the Guardian showed first responders hoisting the profusely bleeding teen off the roof and laying him on the floor with part of his skull separated. Continue reading...
The British actor and champion in the ‘fight against political correctness’ stars in a film fueled by conspiracy theoriesIt has been repeated so often since it was coined in the 2004 film Mean Girls that it has perhaps become an overused formulation. But in the case of Donald Trump, his supporters and the New York Post and their efforts to discredit Joe Biden via his son Hunter, it feels especially apt: guys, stop trying to make Hunter Biden conspiracy theories happen.The most recent salvo in the campaign to make Hunter’s lost laptop the new Hillary’s emails may, at least, bring about a moment of joy for the rest of us. Available for download from 7 September, the movie My Son Hunter is a piece of political porn dedicated to animating the wildest fringes of Trump chat-room banter. To enjoy it, you have only to submit your email address to Breitbart News, the far-right internet platform that is distributing the film. For those unwilling to see their names on that particular list, I can assure you that the trailer, which dropped last week, is more than you need. Continue reading...
Christina Bobb and Evan Corcoran face scrutiny over their communications with the justice department, legal experts sayTwo lawyers for Donald Trump could become witnesses or targets in the obstruction investigation connected to the criminal probe of the former president’s unauthorized retention of highly-sensitive government documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, according to legal experts.The lawyers – Christina Bobb and Evan Corcoran – face becoming ensnared in the investigation because they liaised with the justice department during the government’s months-long effort to retrieve boxes of presidential records and classified documents from Trump’s Florida home. Continue reading...
Donovan Lewis was pronounced dead at the hospital after Columbus police shot at him in his own bedA police officer in Ohio fatally shot a Black man within a second of opening his bedroom door early Tuesday morning as the officer was attempting to serve him an arrest warrant.The killing was captured on police body camera. The man was not armed and was identified by authorities as 20-year-old Donovan Lewis, who was killed by Ricky Anderson, a Columbus police officer with decades of experience. Continue reading...
Governor signs executive order as state prepares for influx of abortion seekers from neighboring statesNew Mexico’s governor earmarked $10m in public funds on Wednesday for a reproductive healthcare clinic to meet an expected rise in demand for abortions from women traveling from neighboring states that have banned the procedure.Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an executive order for the clinic to be built in southern New Mexico’s Doña Ana county, bordering Texas, where abortion has been outlawed since the US supreme court in June ended the nationwide constitutional right to the procedure. Continue reading...
The police sent a bomb squad to the medical center, which works with LGBTQ+ youth, after being alerted to an anonymous callBoston Children’s hospital received a bomb threat on Tuesday night after weeks of harassment from rightwing campaigns that have targeted the hospital for working with transgender youth.According to the Massachusetts hospital, it received the anonymous bomb threat and contacted the police, who sent a bomb squad to the medical center shortly after 8pm ET. Continue reading...
by Bryan Armen Graham at Flushing Meadows (now) and D on (#633NM)
Andy Murray fought back to defeat wildcard Emilio Nava and Coco Gauff moved into the third roundMandlik has rushed Jabeur! She breaks then consolidates for 3-1! I’m sure Jabeur will take it in her stride, but she might be big-up naused by the recent slam winners – she’s better than almost of all of them, and yet.Madlik is pretty small, and we learn that she tries to combat this by taking the ball early, to rush her opponents. She holds her first service game for 1-1, Jabeur having breezed through hers. Meanwhile, Holt has held and then broken again – he leads Cachin 3-0 – and Sakkari, who lost to Raducanu in last year’s semi, leads Wang 1-0; they’re now playing deuce on Wang’s serve. Continue reading...
Cheese-based sauce covers half of a busy road in Tennessee, days after a truck spilled 150,000 tomatoes on California interstateJust a day after a truck spilled a gigantic load of tomatoes over a highway in California, another bizarre food spill unfolded in Tennessee where an enormous slick of creamy Alfredo pasta sauce was accidentally deposited all over a busy road.The accident occurred when a 18-wheeler truck carrying hundreds of bottles of the cheese-based sauce crashed and spilled them all over I-55, leading to one half of the road being covered in what looked from a distance like snow – but was in fact the popular pasta-enhancing condiment. Continue reading...
by Tumaini Carayol at Flushing Meadows on (#6341Z)
With her grand slam defence over the Briton has the chance to embrace a fresh start and build her world ranking back up“I want to go to bed,” Emma Raducanu said, smiling, as the subject of her press conference shifted to her next plans and goals after she had been usurped in the first round at the US Open as the defending champion. Just over an hour after her defeat by Alizé Cornet, Raducanu had arrived wearing a cap angled low, covering her face, still processing all that had unfolded that evening.Losing in the first round of a grand slam tournament as the defending champion is a harsh, torrid experience but she leaves New York with no shame. Raducanu played an OK match but Cornet – a 32‑year‑old former No 11 who has battled numerous more accomplished players at grand slam tournaments this year, rising to defeat them each time – was spectacular. She drew on all her nous, improvisational skills and experience to neutralise Raducanu in extremely windy conditions. Continue reading...
Russia’s post-Soviet experiment in democracy failed, but the dream of its political freedom must be preservedThe Kremlin has been unsure how to mark the death this week of Mikhail Gorbachev, the man who is celebrated without hesitation in the west for his role in hastening the end of the cold war. In Russia, events leading to the collapse of the Soviet Union are officially narrated as a national calamity, or not at all. The loss of superpower status is an injury that Vladimir Putin has made it his life’s work to reverse.Mr Gorbachev did not intend for his democratising reforms to dissolve the USSR. In some former Soviet republics he is remembered more as a repressor of pro-independence movements than as a liberator. Events ran away from him. The Russia that was born from Soviet ruin was not a creature of his design, and the failure of its subsequent experiment in political freedom tainted his legacy. For many Russians, chaos and criminality contaminated the concept of democracy. Mr Putin capitalised on that disillusionment to restore authoritarianism with a neo-Soviet, nationalist inflection, of which his murderous assault on Ukraine is an expression. Continue reading...
Inventory of what was seized at Mar-a-Lago caused ‘transatlantic freakout’ between Paris and WashingtonDonald Trump boasted to close associates that he knew secrets about Emmanuel Macron’s sex life from US intelligence sources, it has been reported.The report in Rolling Stone magazine comes in the wake of the release of court documents on the classified and national defence documents found in a search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home on 8 August, which mention a file referred to as “info re: President of France”. Continue reading...
Court filing alleges files were found despite Trump lawyers saying all documents had been returnedThe FBI searched Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida after it obtained evidence there was probably an effort to conceal classified documents in defiance of a grand jury subpoena and despite Trump’s lawyers suggesting otherwise, the Department of Justice said in a court filing late on Tuesday night.The filing, opposing Trump’s request for an independent review of materials seized, amounted to the most detailed picture of potential obstruction of justice yet outlined by the DoJ. Continue reading...
‘I’m going to enforce all laws concerning the protection of classified information,’ Trump once vowed. As promises go, that one aged badlyAs a first-time presidential candidate, Donald Trump repeatedly demanded that Hillary Clinton be sent to jail. “Lock her up” emerged as a battle cry for the 45th president and his fans. He also pledged that his presidency would properly handle the nation’s secrets.“In my administration, I’m going to enforce all laws concerning the protection of classified information,” he intoned at a 2016 rally in North Carolina. “No one will be above the law.” As promises go, this one aged badly – much like his commitment to release his tax returns.Lloyd Green served in the Department of Justice from 1990 to 1992 Continue reading...
Police tell the Reverend Michael Jennings, who was looking after neighbor’s house, someone had reported ‘suspicious’ activity“What you doing here, man?” the white police officer asked an African American man quietly watering flowers in a front garden in Childersburg, Alabama.“Watering flowers,” was the man’s reply. Continue reading...
Head of GCHQ rebuffed late-night request from National Security Agency amid strained relations in Five Eyes intelligence coalitionThe US National Security Agency (NSA) tried to persuade its British counterpart to stop the Guardian publishing revelations about secret mass data collection from the NSA contractor, Edward Snowden, according to a new book.Sir Iain Lobban, the head of Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), was reportedly called with the request in the early hours of 6 June 2013 but rebuffed the suggestion that his agency should act as a censor on behalf of its US partner in electronic spying. Continue reading...
No western leader could have predicted his progressive reforms. But war between his country and Ukraine was a devastating blowMikhail Gorbachev was the most significant political leader globally of the second half of the 20th century and one of the greatest reformers in Russian history. By the time he resigned as president of the USSR during its final throes, he had played the decisive role in making Russia a freer country than it had ever been. The new tolerance and liberties at home, together with the transformation of Soviet foreign policy, emboldened the peoples of eastern and central Europe to send their communist rulers packing and to reject Moscow’s overlordship. As Gorbachev was also the most pacific of all Soviet – perhaps of all Russian – leaders, not a shot was fired by a Soviet soldier while the Warsaw Pact countries achieved independence from 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell in November that year, or when Germany was reunited in 1990.There is a popular fallacy in the west that the Soviet Union had reached crisis point by 1985, that the Communist party’s politburo chose Gorbachev as general secretary because he was a reformer, and that therefore he had no option but to undertake radical changes. An authoritarian regime is in crisis when its laws and commands are no longer obeyed, when there is persistent mass protest and, in particular, when such social unrest is accompanied by open splits within the political elite. Continue reading...
In the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, the estimated US lifespan has shortened by nearly three yearsUS life expectancy dropped for the second consecutive year in 2021, falling by nearly a year from 2020, according to a government report released on Wednesday.In the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, the estimated US lifespan has shortened by nearly three years. The last comparable decrease happened in the early 1940s, during the height of the second world war. Continue reading...
Former president’s attorneys argue that the FBI may have seized materials at Mar-a-Lago protected by executive privilegeDonald Trump’s attorneys are seeking the appointment of a special master to determine whether the materials that the FBI seized from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida can be used in the investigation into his unauthorized retention of government secrets.The judge overseeing the case had said in an order over the weekend that she had preliminary intent to grant the former US president’s request – though she stressed that was not her final determination. Continue reading...
Democratic frontrunner refuses debate with TV doctor, saying: ‘Dr Oz’s team … think it is funny to mock a stroke survivor’John Fetterman, the Democratic candidate for US Senate in Pennsylvania, said he would not debate Mehmet Oz next week, after the Republican’s campaign mocked his health again.“Dr Oz’s team … think it is funny to mock a stroke survivor,” Fetterman said. Continue reading...
Majority of states that permit corporal punishment are in the south, particularly in districts in poorer, rural areas and with a high proportion of Black childrenWhen Ellen Reddy learned of a predominantly white school district in south-west Missouri that reinstated corporal punishment as a last resort for disciplining students, Reddy, who raised two Black boys and is a grandmother, became upset. Even in modern day US, Black children like her grandchildren are still twice as likely to be beaten in schools than white children.The return of corporal punishment in Cassville, Missouri, where school board officials once abandoned the practice in 2001, departs from a national decline in the use of corporal punishment in schools. Continue reading...
Western figures praise former president who helped end the cold war. Plus, US states ‘rolling back’ LGBTQ rights• Don’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up hereGood morning.Mikhail Gorbachev has been hailed as “one of the greatest figures of the 20th century” in a flood of tributes from across the world after his death, aged 91, on Tuesday.One of the great pragmatists of modern Russian history. “Compared with the crony capitalism and chaotic collapse of public services that marked the first years of post-communism in Russia, his goals seem admirable,” writes Jonathan Steele in the Guardian’s obituary.Trump’s former White House adviser Kellyanne Conway does not think Republicans should move on from him: “Anytime Democrats tell you which Republican should be your nominee, run in the other direction.” Continue reading...
With less than a year until the World Cup, a look at how the much-changed defending champions are shaping upThe US Women’s National Team is now halfway through a revitalisation project begun in the embers of disappointment in Japan. The US performance at the Tokyo Olympics was seen as woefully lacklustre, though they did grasp bronze medals. The veteran-heavy roster did not perform to expectation, and the manager, Vlatko Andonovski, has overseen an ambitious transition scheme in the year since.With less than a year to the World Cup we take a look at where he and the team have got to. Continue reading...
My tweet about Ron DeSantis provoked outrage in rightwing media – perhaps it hit the nerve of the fascism now taking root in the Republican party?I’ve been watching the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, for some time. Last Tuesday I tweeted: “Just wondering if ‘DeSantis’ is now officially a synonym for ‘fascist’.”I was surprised at the outrage my little tweet provoked in rightwing media.Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com
Lack of guidance by state’s education department and possible implications has teachers worried as school year beginsMichael Woods, a high school special education teacher in Palm Beach county, Florida, with 30 years of experience teaching and who grew up as a student in the area who was bullied for being gay, said he cried the night before this school year began in August 2022 because of anxiety related to Florida’s “don’t say gay” bill that went into effect in July 2022.“As a gay teacher, as a queer male, it’s been painful for me, it’s been very painful and very upsetting,” said Woods. “It’s had a chilling effect, because I’m really questioning myself, about what conversations I can have and there’s really no clarity on it.” Continue reading...
The team that came to worldwide attention thanks to Moneyball is struggling to pull in fans. A move to the bright lights of Vegas could be approachingThe first-place New York Yankees, a hit at any box office, invaded Oakland last weekend to face the last-place Athletics. The turnstiles at RingCentral Coliseum were given a rare spin, with 93,719 fans attending the four-game series, or 23,430 per game.The A’s are still dead last in the major leagues in attendance, though, having drawn a little over 10,000 fans per game this season. That should tell you not just something about the Yankees’ drawing power, but about Oakland as a baseball wasteland. Continue reading...
My jaw is hanging open in disbelief! For once, we are not being demonised, dehumanised or told we don’t existI’m an atheist but I’m pretty sure I just witnessed a miracle, thanks to the Palestinian-American comic Mo Amer. His new semi-autobiographical Netflix sitcom Mo is hilarious and, no matter your background, I guarantee you’ll find a lot of it relatable. If you are of Palestinian heritage, as I am, however, Mo is far more than just a laugh: it’s a groundbreaking piece of television.Palestine is not exactly a major theme in popular culture. If you do hear the P-word on TV it’s usually during the news and it’s normally nothing positive. It’s the same for Arabs in general, of course. If we are on the telly, we’re usually terrorists. And, if we’re not being demonised, we tend to be the punchline – not the people delivering the punchline. Palestinians, however, are dehumanised on a whole other level. You can’t even say the P-word without it causing problems: an anchor on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation once had to apologise for using the word Palestine (instead of “Palestinian territories”), for God’s sake. Being Palestinian means constantly being told you don’t exist or being accused by certain pro-Israel voices of being antisemitic simply because you assert that you do exist. I have written only a handful of articles about being Palestinian; every time I file one I have anxiety attacks for days because of the inevitable character assassinations and online trolling that occur after publication. Continue reading...
Ex-White House counselor said on Fox News that Republicans should stick with her former boss as Democrats gain groundDonald Trump’s former White House counselor, Kellyanne Conway, does not think Republicans should move on from her former boss, despite signs his control of the party could cost it the chance to take Congress in November.Speaking to Fox News on Tuesday, Conway said: “Those who want to move on from Trump: You go first.” Continue reading...
We are still trying to find ways to get visas – writing letters, appealing to governments – but the options are running outIt was past midnight on 9 August 2021, and I was immersed in writing when my phone pinged: a message from a contact at the Indian embassy in Kabul. They said the Indian mission in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif was evacuating and offered me a seat on the flight.There were reports the city would collapse soon and fall to the Taliban. I had already left Mazar, but it was hard to imagine that this historic, metropolitan city could topple so easily. It was too well fortified, as I had witnessed during my recent reporting trip, with hundreds of Afghan forces patrolling its gates.Ruchi Kumar is a journalist formerly resident in Kabul Continue reading...
My member’s bill that will look at political donations and expanding voting rights will soon be read in parliament. We need it to passDemocracy is a human right that in many ways underpins all other rights.But the symptoms of weakened democracy are all around us. Even here, in New Zealand, where we have one of the world’s least corrupt and most stable democracies, we’re not getting it right. Continue reading...
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