An interview with David Pepper, ‘Laboratories of Autocracy’ author, about the GOP war on democracy
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David Pepper, the former Ohio Democratic Party chairman, has had a front-row seat to one of the major fronts in the American right’s insurgent war on democracy: Namely, the nation’s statehouses, where the gradual Republican takeover in the past decade ha
Cultural appreciation or cultural appropriation: What's the difference?
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People often define America as a melting pot. But as the country brings together multiple cultures, many often cross the line between cultural appreciation and appropriation. You might have heard the term cultural appropriation, especially on trending me
There’s a deep and abiding hatred of Daylight Savings Time that’s run through my family for generations. “War time.” That’s what my granddad called it, because that’s what they called it when it was first instituted back in 1918. (We have ver
How Hmong farmers are building collective power in Minnesota
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by Cirien Saadeh
This story was originally published at Prism.
Lillian Hang works at the Hang Family Farm in Vermillion Township, Minnesota, alongside her children, siblings, and parents, growing a mix of vegetables and herbs local to the area and thos
Systemic inequality is leaving trillions on the table
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Many of us will take a moment over Thanksgiving to give thanks for our good fortune, however small or great. My sincere hope for those who read this is that the words of the women I interviewed, when combined with some of the facts laid before you, help&
'Saying I am a suicide bomber is no laughing matter': Ilhan Omar defends herself when GOP silent
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I wish I could say the failure of GOP leadership to condemn anti-Muslim rhetoric targeting Rep. Ilhan Omar was surprising. I wish I could say the disgusting remarks from Rep. Lauren Boebert that made recent headlines were unique. I wish Omar, one o
No good emperors: Why do we insist on reading history backwards?
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This is one of those seasons when people look back to history, but I’m looking a little further back than usual. Any podcast fanatic will almost inevitably eventually come across Mike Duncan’s History of Rome podcast. Duncan began the weekly dip int
The anatomy of a fake conservative news story about vaccine mandates killing a child's dad
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On occasion, for professional reasons, I must wade into the right wing-o-sphere. It is filled with the kind of rabid misinformation and fearmongering you might expect. The part that is most bothersome, however, is not that most of the stories are bogus in the
As the holidays approach, incarcerated people in Florida say goodbye to physical mail
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by Alexandra Martinez
This story was originally published at Prism.
Nancy DeNike remembers one of the few uplifting moments during her five-year sentence at Homestead Correctional Institution in Florida’s Miami-Dade County: hearing her name announced
Republicans are desperate to believe 2020 was 'stolen' from Trump. Nothing will dissuade them
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One way or the other, GOP voters are determined to believe the 2020 election was stolen no matter what the facts are. As a recent Monmouth University poll found, «Nearly 3 in 4 Republicans (73%) cling to the idea that Biden won through fraud,»
How a $26 coffee maker made me better appreciate the world and the people who make things work
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Like most people, I like to feel that I’m a decent person. Maybe not reaching the level of “good,” but I wear my mask even in stores where no one else is wearing one, I pay that $10 a month for recycling even though I have suspicions about the fate of t
Black and Jewish musicians and songwriters forged musical history—together
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Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate! For today’s Black Music Sunday, I’m featuring the collaboration of Black and Jewish musicians and songwriters. They’ve teamed up to create a lasting part of our musical history.
I grew up in Brooklyn
Let’s dive right in!
Nate Cohn of The New York Times attempts to reconcile the popularity of President Joe Biden’s policies with Biden’s “personal unpopularity.”
The disconnect between Mr. Biden’s popular policies and his persona
Community Spotlight: The brilliance of Animal Nuz, Daily Kos' first exclusive comic strip
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Unless you’ve been at Daily Kos since the early days, you may not realize how much of the front-page content originated in the Community. Many staff writers and elections team members began as Community members, whose special interests and skills were firs
A Pandemic Guide to Anime: Light horror and ghostly shenanigans
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Welcome back to our impromptu and sporadically scheduled pandemic guide to anime. Having gone through the lengthy reintroductions last time around, we can skip all that and dive right in. Missed earlier entries in the series and want to catch up? Here they al
California resort turns into long-term housing option for unhoused veterans and families
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When it comes to supporting our unhoused neighbors, people can turn a cold shoulder very, very quickly. No matter the reason (or, most likely, reasons) someone is experiencing homelessness, they always deserve dignity, respect, and a safe space to live. Unfor
Memories of Bill Morlin, a fearless journalism pioneer who exposed the radical right
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When I first met Bill Morlin, he was already a legend among news reporters in the Pacific Northwest. I’ll admit I was a bit starstruck: This was the man—on paper, a simple crime reporter for the Spokane Spokesman-Review, but much more than that—who had
Building back and replanting: How we can tackle climate change through focusing on our federal lands
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Republicans have argued for decades that what we used to call global warming and now call climate change is a hoax. And for all those decades, they’ve been, and still are, wrong.
Climate change is real. Human-driven climate change is real. So far, hum
Connect! Unite! Act! is a weekly series that seeks to create face-to-face networks in each congressional district. Groups meet regularly to socialize, get out the vote, support candidates, and engage in other local political actions that help our progressive
'We heard from hundreds': San Mateo sheriff credits community for move ending ICE collaboration
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So much of the incredible work happening to liberate immigrant communities from Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) grasp has happened, and is happening, at the local level. Just one example this month: In California’s San Mateo County,
Head of flight attendants union wants you to watch for signs of potential fights on the plane
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As we all know by now, there has been a dramatic spike in people behaving really badly on airplanes. Despite the FAA adopting a policy of zero tolerance for disruptive behavior, the airlines have submitted over 5,000 reports of unruly passengers. Out of that
Here's just how much private prison profiteers sunk into the 2020 election
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A researcher from The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University has published data at LA Progressive Newsletter detailing the vast sums of cash that private prison profiteers like GEO Group, CoreCivic, an
Anti-vaxx Chronicles: Why don't the anti-science, faith-only types go to church when they get sick?
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Facebook is a menace. COVID-19 is a menace. Conservatism is a cesspool. Together, those three ingredients have created a toxic stew of malevolent death and devastation. We can talk about all those things in the abstract, look at the numbers and statistics, an
Over the years, I’ve written a lot about the U.S. Senate. I’ve written a lot about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. And I’ve searched our photo subscription services for a lot of pictures of McConnell. Most of them end up being from the short pre
Majority of Republicans want a Trump 2024 run, but he's practically toxic to everyone else
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A new Marquette Law School poll suggests that even though Donald Trump is likely a shoo-in for the GOP nomination in 2024, he also has a decent likelihood of repelling a lot of voters in the general election.
Among Republicans in the survey, 60% say they wan
Gutter troll Lauren Boebert implies Rep. Ilhan Omar is a violent terrorist; Omar calls out her lies
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Irony is Rep. Lauren Boebert worrying about a terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol. And speaking in front of an American flag. And being a member of Congress, for that matter.
The same woman who’s undermined Capitol security, endangered her colleague
Thanks to COVID-19, the future could be full of fire, explosions, and really, really bad food
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From the earliest days of the global pandemic, one of the most common symptoms of a COVID-19 infection has also been on of the oddest: a loss of the sense of smell, more technically known as olfactory dysfunction. That symptom has often been treated as s
Back in 2018, a group of determined Idahoans hit the road in a couple of old RVs they painted green, taking on the herculean task of getting a ballot initiative to expand Medicaid in the state. After losing a bad set of laws privatizing education t
We start off this Turkey Day edition of the Abbreviated Pundit Roundup with Kimberly Atkins Stohr of The Boston Globe writing that while the guilty verdicts against Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael, and William “Roddie” Bryan for
Compton fights inequality with universal basic income
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Eight-hundred low-income households are receiving monthly payments through the Compton Pledge guaranteed income program.
By Melissa Chadburn for Capital & Main
The city of Compton has been a lot of things: the site of fiery social conflicts with po
Despite rebranding efforts, prison tech company Aventiv still profits off of incarcerated people
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by Alexandra Martinez
This story was originally published at Prism.
Last month, JPay, a prison technology and money management company for current and formerly incarcerated people, agreed to pay $6 million in fines and restitution for taking advantage o
Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: Nu is old news, now it's Omicron
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Paying attention to the Omicron variant might get more people vaxxed, and if so, a good thing.You never know what pushes people to roll up their sleeve, and sometimes just having COVID in the news is enough.
So far, South Africa is saying their hospitalized
Welcome back! It’s been quite a while since we last met. Like, a while. How have you been? Yeah, me too. It happens.
Back when the days when there had not yet been an insurrection on American soil during the new millennium, and we were only dealing with a
This holiday season, don't contribute to an MLM—even if a loved one begs you to
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Depending on your age and where you live, multilevel marketing schemes (also known as MLMs) might be ubiquitous in your life. Or you might be thinking: Wait, those still exist? They do exist, although companies get away with not being pyramid schemes lar
Latina who gave birth while on life support after contracting COVID-19 urges vaccinations
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NBC News’ Nicole Acevedo reports that Maryland mom María Esther Roque Díaz is strongly urging pregnant individuals, “particularly other Latinas,” get the COVID-19 vaccine. That’s because she gave birth to her child while on life support af
Contender for greatest mess in Congress seeks promotion to be greatest mess in Texas
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Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert, the legendary bomb-thrower who carried the far right’s banner in Congress before the Tea Party wave and the Donald Trump era reshaped the Republican caucus, announced Monday night that he would challenge scandal-ridden Attorney Gen
GOP leaders in red states aren’t afraid of our party, but they are terrified of these women
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Millions of disenfranchised minorities have been sitting out elections, and the Republican state legislatures have initiated an avalanche of voter suppression laws to keep it that way while our Democratic leadership has done nothing to respond. In fact, our l
After Trump's Pennsylvania Senate pick bows out, New Jersey's own TV quack Dr. Oz may enter fray
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Because Donald Trump is a gooey, hulking, Brobdingnagian wad of loser, his handpicked replacement for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Pat Toomey has already settled in for his political dirt nap. Sean Parnell, the MAGA-anointed heir apparent t
Anti-vaxx Chronicles: Unfortunately, Canada isn't immune, has its own deplorables
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Facebook is a menace. COVID-19 is a menace. Conservatism is a cesspool. Together, those three ingredients have created a toxic stew of malevolent death and devastation. We can talk about all those things in the abstract, look at the numbers and statistics, an
