AdvertisementAdvertisementThe Virginia state Supreme Court a district court ruling Thursday that barred the city of Charlottesville from removing two Confederate statues in the city, including one memorializing Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The city can now with the removal of the Lee statue, as well as another nearby memorial to Gen. Stonewall Jackson, both of which the City Council voted to remove in 2017. The prospect of the Lee statue being taken down prompted a group of local residents to sue, the removal as the case made its way through the state court system.AdvertisementThe case...…AdvertisementAdvertisementThe Virginia state Supreme Court a district court ruling Thursday that barred the city of Charlottesville from removing two Confederate statues in the city, including one memorializing Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The city can now with the removal of the Lee statue, as well as another nearby memorial to Gen. Stonewall Jackson, both of which the City Council voted to remove in 2017. The prospect of the Lee statue being taken down prompted a group of local residents to sue, the removal as the case made its way through the state court system.AdvertisementThe case...WW…

AdvertisementAdvertisementShortly after a group of Black business executives on corporate America to do more in pushing back against restrictive voting bills making their way through state legislatures, a handful of Georgia’s highest-profile companies took stronger public stands against the state’s recently passed voting law. The state is home to a host of America’s biggest companies—including Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, Home Depot, and Aflac—all of which are facing criticism for not being more vocal in opposition to the Georgia voting bill, which was signed into law last week after weeks...…AdvertisementAdvertisementShortly after a group of Black business executives on corporate America to do more in pushing back against restrictive voting bills making their way through state legislatures, a handful of Georgia’s highest-profile companies took stronger public stands against the state’s recently passed voting law. The state is home to a host of America’s biggest companies—including Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, Home Depot, and Aflac—all of which are facing criticism for not being more vocal in opposition to the Georgia voting bill, which was signed into law last week after weeks...WW…

AdvertisementAdvertisementAn investigation by the U.S. Postal Service’s inspector general into a Pennsylvania postal worker’s outlandish voter fraud allegations the claims were, as expected, total hogwash. The claims levied by mail carrier Richard Hopkins shortly after the November election were so cartoonishly villainous that in a normal year with a normal president and a normal Republican political party, the burden of proof would have been on Hopkins to prove that he wasn’t totally full of it. Instead, in 2020, Trump and his Republican allies, like South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham,...…AdvertisementAdvertisementAn investigation by the U.S. Postal Service’s inspector general into a Pennsylvania postal worker’s outlandish voter fraud allegations the claims were, as expected, total hogwash. The claims levied by mail carrier Richard Hopkins shortly after the November election were so cartoonishly villainous that in a normal year with a normal president and a normal Republican political party, the burden of proof would have been on Hopkins to prove that he wasn’t totally full of it. Instead, in 2020, Trump and his Republican allies, like South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham,...WW…

AdvertisementAdvertisementArkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed into law Tuesday a near-total ban on abortion in the state, despite simultaneously acknowledging the ban is not actually lawful by current American legal standards. Huh? The state’s bans women from having an abortion under any circumstance—including rape and incest—other than in a “medical emergency” where the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother. Hutchinson said in a signing statement that he disagreed with portions of the bill and that it directly contradicts current U.S. law, but he signed away anyway in the latest...…AdvertisementAdvertisementArkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed into law Tuesday a near-total ban on abortion in the state, despite simultaneously acknowledging the ban is not actually lawful by current American legal standards. Huh? The state’s bans women from having an abortion under any circumstance—including rape and incest—other than in a “medical emergency” where the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother. Hutchinson said in a signing statement that he disagreed with portions of the bill and that it directly contradicts current U.S. law, but he signed away anyway in the latest...WW…

AdvertisementAdvertisementThe House the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act Wednesday, a sweeping overhaul of policing in America that takes aim at racial and religious profiling, prohibits many no-knock warrants, and bans the use of police chokeholds. The bill, which endeavors to create a national database to track police misconduct and to make it easier to prosecute offending officers, passed through the Democratic-controlled House by a 220 to 112 margin. The vote predictably split down party lines, but not entirely so: Two Democrats—Reps. Jared Golden (Maine) and Ron Kind (Wis.)—voted...…AdvertisementAdvertisementThe House the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act Wednesday, a sweeping overhaul of policing in America that takes aim at racial and religious profiling, prohibits many no-knock warrants, and bans the use of police chokeholds. The bill, which endeavors to create a national database to track police misconduct and to make it easier to prosecute offending officers, passed through the Democratic-controlled House by a 220 to 112 margin. The vote predictably split down party lines, but not entirely so: Two Democrats—Reps. Jared Golden (Maine) and Ron Kind (Wis.)—voted...WW…

AdvertisementAdvertisementThe inspector generals are coming for Trump World! For an administration with a historic aversion to ethics and the propriety of public service, there has been a lot for these internal governmental watchdogs to dig in to. On Wednesday, the inspector general at the lowly old Transportation Department, perhaps the least glamorous of all the cabinet gigs, outlining the ways in which former Secretary Elaine Chao to use the position to deploy public resources to benefit her family. The instances of wrongdoing were not particularly subtle and the department watchdog...…AdvertisementAdvertisementThe inspector generals are coming for Trump World! For an administration with a historic aversion to ethics and the propriety of public service, there has been a lot for these internal governmental watchdogs to dig in to. On Wednesday, the inspector general at the lowly old Transportation Department, perhaps the least glamorous of all the cabinet gigs, outlining the ways in which former Secretary Elaine Chao to use the position to deploy public resources to benefit her family. The instances of wrongdoing were not particularly subtle and the department watchdog...WW…

AdvertisementAdvertisementYou know things, geopolitically-speaking, are starting to edge back when a brazen hack thought to be orchestrated by North Korea is in the news. The fact that Pyongyang stands accused by South Korea of trying to is, however, perhaps a sign that we still have a long way to go until we’re fully back to before times. Here, in the present day, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service says the target of the hack was American drugmaker Pfizer, specifically its vaccine and treatment data. It was not when exactly the attempted cyberintrusion took place or whether it was...…AdvertisementAdvertisementYou know things, geopolitically-speaking, are starting to edge back when a brazen hack thought to be orchestrated by North Korea is in the news. The fact that Pyongyang stands accused by South Korea of trying to is, however, perhaps a sign that we still have a long way to go until we’re fully back to before times. Here, in the present day, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service says the target of the hack was American drugmaker Pfizer, specifically its vaccine and treatment data. It was not when exactly the attempted cyberintrusion took place or whether it was...WW…

AdvertisementAdvertisementThe British medical journal the Lancet, on Wednesday, published a of Donald Trump’s presidency and its impact on Americans’ health, that 40 percent of the nearly 500,000 COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. over the past year were avoidable. The journal came to the conclusion by comparing the U.S. health outcomes on the coronavirus—the country leads the world in COVID deaths and confirmed cases with more than 27 million—with the weighted average of other G-7 nations. So it’s not a wildly abstract conclusion to draw: the U.S. could have saved hundreds of thousands of lives...…AdvertisementAdvertisementThe British medical journal the Lancet, on Wednesday, published a of Donald Trump’s presidency and its impact on Americans’ health, that 40 percent of the nearly 500,000 COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. over the past year were avoidable. The journal came to the conclusion by comparing the U.S. health outcomes on the coronavirus—the country leads the world in COVID deaths and confirmed cases with more than 27 million—with the weighted average of other G-7 nations. So it’s not a wildly abstract conclusion to draw: the U.S. could have saved hundreds of thousands of lives...WW…

AdvertisementAdvertisementAfter the Capitol was attacked by thousands of pro-Trump rioters last month, additional security measures were put in place to keep members of Congress safe. Notably, metal detectors were placed at the entrances to the building. It seems like an easy ask to get elected representatives to do what most Americans do routinely, yet far-right Republicans —presumably something about a breach of their personal liberty. The extremist, anti-everything wing of the GOP that is at the center of this self-involved showdown is comprised of exactly who you’d expect: Colorado Rep....…AdvertisementAdvertisementAfter the Capitol was attacked by thousands of pro-Trump rioters last month, additional security measures were put in place to keep members of Congress safe. Notably, metal detectors were placed at the entrances to the building. It seems like an easy ask to get elected representatives to do what most Americans do routinely, yet far-right Republicans —presumably something about a breach of their personal liberty. The extremist, anti-everything wing of the GOP that is at the center of this self-involved showdown is comprised of exactly who you’d expect: Colorado Rep....WW…

AdvertisementAdvertisementDemocratic Rep. Maxine Waters of California joined demonstrators in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, over the weekend to lend support to the protest over yet another police shooting that killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop. After addressing the crowd via loudspeaker Saturday evening, Waters spoke for several minutes with reporters on the scene, where she was asked what the response should be if the jury in the Derek Chauvin murder trial returned a not guilty verdict for the death of George Floyd. “Well, we’ve got to stay on the street. And we’ve got...…AdvertisementAdvertisementDemocratic Rep. Maxine Waters of California joined demonstrators in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, over the weekend to lend support to the protest over yet another police shooting that killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop. After addressing the crowd via loudspeaker Saturday evening, Waters spoke for several minutes with reporters on the scene, where she was asked what the response should be if the jury in the Derek Chauvin murder trial returned a not guilty verdict for the death of George Floyd. “Well, we’ve got to stay on the street. And we’ve got...WW…