“Markets don’t exist in nature. They’re created and enforced by governments,” Robert Reich points out, echoing what George Lakoff has previously written about all markets being constructed for someone’s benefit.
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In Russia, the pandemic is beating Putin
“A deadly virus can’t be ignored, jailed, exiled or co-opted — nor can it be locked down without great economic cost. That puts President Vladimir Putin of Russia in a bind. The pandemic, perhaps his hardiest foe to date, has starkly revealed the limits of his power,” writes Alexey Kovalev, the investigations editor at Meduza, an independent Russian news outlet.
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A century of tragedy: How the car and gas industry knew about the health risks of leaded fuel but sold it for one hundred years anyway
For decades, most gas sold in the U.S. contained a lead additive. Historian Bill Kovarik sees this anniversary as a time to reflect on the role of public health advocates and environmental journalists in preventing profit-driven tragedy.
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This is what the total solar eclipse only visible from Antarctica looked like
The weather cooperated, allowing NASA to offer a livestream of the eclipse courtesy of the Theo Boris and Christian Lockwood of the JM Pasachoff Antarctic Expedition.
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How Mitch McConnell, one of Washington’s longtime power players, succumbed to the preeminence of Trump
“He clearly doesn’t care about being labeled a hypocrite. It just doesn’t bother him. He is brazen about it. That’s one of the cynical sides of Mitch. He doesn’t care. If it’s expedient, he’ll do it,” U.S. Representative John Yarmuth said.
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Why we need to upgrade our face masks — and where to get them
“High-quality respirators such as N95s and KN95s are now widely available and provide the best protection against COVID, according to experts. Why aren’t more people wearing them?” Tanya Lewis asks.
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Republicans’ overreach on abortion may haunt them in 2022
“It seems Republicans have taken a divisive issue and created an enormous bipartisan coalition against themselves, uniting pro-choice and even some antiabortion voters who don’t like the vigilante mechanism,” Jennifer Rubin writes.
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Joohn Choe dissects Marjorie Taylor Greene’s absurd “look at me with my gun” ad
In a lengthy Facebook post, Joohn Choe explains why the extremist, militant Georgia member of Congress is a poseur rather than a legit shooter. As Choe puts it: “Trashy weapon, threatening posture, and always, a thin veneer of Instagram ‘gun-bunny’ posturing overlaying stark ignorance and rank mediocrity.”
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Denali National Park is losing its only road due to climate damage
“For decades, the rangers at Denali National Park in Alaska were easily winning their battle against a slow-moving landslide underneath the park’s only road. Now, due in part to the effects of climate change, they are losing very badly,” Andrew R. Chow reports.
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How the September 11th attacks changed us
“The betrayal of America’s professed principles was the friendly fire of the war on terror,” Carlos Lozada writes.
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Biden, allies frustrated with media’s hawkish coverage of Afghanistan withdrawal
“After years of ignoring Afghanistan, many close to the Biden White House — and the president himself — feel some major outlets are adopting a pro-war stance,” Huffington Post’s Daniel Marans writes.
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As a doctor, I’m out of compassion for unvaccinated people
“The burden of this pandemic now rests on the shoulders of the unvaccinated,” writes Anita Sircar. “On those who are eligible to get vaccinated, but choose not to, a decision they defend by declaring, ‘vaccination is a deeply personal choice.’ But perhaps never in history has anyone’s personal choice impacted the world as a whole as it does right now.”
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United States is among nations with highest rate of new Covid-19 cases
“The United States remains among nations with the highest rate of new Covid-19 cases, driven mostly by a surge in the South, where many states are lagging in getting people vaccinated against the coronavirus,” Aya Elamroussi reports.
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July was the hottest month ever recorded, NOAA says
“It’s been a summer of sweltering heat waves and raging wildfires, and now it’s confirmed: July 2021 was the hottest month on Earth since record-keeping began,” Li Cohen reports.
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The 2020 U.S. Census data is out, and here’s what it says about fast-growing Idaho
“Idaho’s population has reached about 1.8 million and rose 17.3% in the past decade, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data. That spike makes it the second-fastest-growing state in the U.S., trailing only a neighbor to the south, Utah,” Hayat Norimine reports.
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Dr. Seuss warned us fifty years ago, but we didn’t listen to ‘The Lorax’
“He’s describing what we would now call a ‘trophic cascade,’ and for me, as a scientist, I just find that genius that he anticipated that concept by a decade or more,” anthropologist and evolutionary biologist Nathaniel Dominy told NPR.
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Siberia’s wildfires are bigger than all the world’s other blazes combined
“Siberia is so vast that huge fires can burn without threatening any major settlements, transportation systems or infrastructure — but are still part of a swath of infernos that together are larger than all the other blazes around the world,” Robyn Dixon reports.
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Cori Bush steers progressives to win on eviction crisis
“Bush has led a one-woman protest on the Capitol steps over the last several days that forced the eviction crisis to the top of the nation’s agenda even after the House left town without taking action on the issue,” Politico notes.
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They spurned the vaccine. Now they want you to know they regret it.
“People who once rejected the vaccine or simply waited too long are now grappling with the consequences, often in raw, public way,” The New York Times’ Jack Healy reports.
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‘Something needs to be fixed here’: Three Houston-area chemical leaks in one month raise calls for faster federal action
So much for don’t mess with Texas: “A slate of proposed revisions to federal chemical safety rules could have prevented the leaks, but the changes have been stalled for years,” Dominic Anthony Walsh reports.
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Enormous Bootleg Fire sends smoke entire length of Oregon
Via CBS: “There were about eighty active large fires and complexes of multiple blazes in the U.S., the National Interagency Fire Center tweeted late Sunday. The U.S. Forest Service said at least sixteen major fires were burning in the Pacific Northwest alone.”
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