'This is a war': Republicans ramp up bid to control election maps for next decade
A little-known Republican group is ramping up millions of dollars in funding from major US corporations such as CitiGroup and Chevron to protect the conservative stronghold on the country. The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) – which held the key to the GOP’s political takeover a decade ago – launched the Right Lines 2020 campaign last September, taglined: “Socialism starts in the states. Let’s stop it there, too.” It’s hoping to meet a $125m investment goal in an effort to retain 42 state legislature seats that the group says are key to holding power in the House of Representatives in battleground states including Wisconsin, Texas, Florida and New York.
How dangerous is Jordan B Peterson, the rightwing professor who 'hit a hornets' nest'?
The Canadian psychology professor and culture warrior Jordan B Peterson could not have hoped for better publicity than his recent encounter with Cathy Newman on Channel 4 News. The more Newman inaccurately paraphrased his beliefs and betrayed her irritation, the better Peterson came across. The whole performance, which has since been viewed more than 6m times on YouTube and was described by excitable Fox News host Tucker Carlson as “one of the great interviews of all time”, bolstered Peterson’s preferred image as the coolly rational man of science facing down the hysteria of political correctness. As he told Newman in his distinctive, constricted voice, which he has compared to that of Kermit the Frog: “I choose my words very, very carefully.”
The Iconoclast unmasked: the man behind far-right YouTube channel
He is the anonymous architect behind one of the most successful and toxic British far-right YouTube channels, responsible for disseminating racist, Islamophobic and antisemitic material. For years the individual known as The Iconoclast has managed to protect his identity despite amassing nearly 21m views and more than 218,000 subscribers. However the Observer can reveal that the figure behind one of the biggest far-right content producers in the UK – and the movement’s most prominent anonymous account – is a former media student called Daniel Atkinson. Campaigners said the unmasking of Atkinson was important because he is emblematic of the latest manifestation of the far right.
Gilead Is Profiteering Off a COVID Drug We Already Paid For – BillMoyers.com
FOSTER CITY, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 29: A sign is posted in front of the Gilead Sciences headquarters on April 29, 2020 in Foster City, California. Gilead Sciences announced preliminary results of a drug trial with that showed at least 50% of patients with coronavirus that treated with a five-day dosage of remdesivir improved and more than half were released from the hospital within two weeks. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) This is a story of cause and effect — a tale of repeated and calculated public policy decisions that have now led to a predictable outcome. This story begins 25 years ago, when the Clinton administration rescinded a rule that required pharmaceutical companies to charge Americans reasonable prices for medicines developed at government expense.
Holding Difficult Conversations
Holding Difficult Conversations, Further Education Teacher Training from the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace A bespoke training programme to build confidence and key skills in holding conversations safely and effectively with students around the topic of extremism. This course is for frontline education staff from schools and colleges: teachers, personal tutors, safeguarding leads and pastoral staff should attend. This session is led by the Foundation for Peace, drawing on its work as a leading UK and European deliverer of Prevention based programmes with young people, schools and wider communities. The Prevent Duty: the obligation on statutory bodies to prevent people becoming drawn into extremism, places significant obligations on schools. FAQs
A field guide to Trump's dangerous rhetoric
All leaders are demagogues. You may not realize this, because we’ve come to associate the word “demagogue” with only dangerous populist leaders. But in Greek, the word just means “leader of the people” (dēmos “the people” + agōgos “leading”). Some demagogues are good, and some are dangerous. The fundamental difference between leaders who are good demagogues and leaders who are dangerous demagogues is found in the answer to this simple question: Are they accountable for their words and actions? Obviously, an unaccountable leader is dangerous in any political community.
How Covid-19 Signals the End of the American Era
Wade Davis holds the Leadership Chair in Cultures and Ecosystems at Risk at the University of British Columbia. His award-winning books include “Into the Silence” and “The Wayfinders.” His new book, “Magdalena: River of Dreams,” is published by Knopf. Never in our lives have we experienced such a global phenomenon.
Why Leaders Who Listen Achieve Breakthroughs
As a leader, communicating can sometimes feel like Groundhog Day. No matter how hard you try to get your message across, it is all too easy to find the next day that you face the same blank stares, predictable objections, and questions that indicate that you failed to make it stick — that people just aren’t getting it. One reason leaders find themselves in this cycle is that their approach to communication is based on an outdated mental model. It’s a model best described as a “post office.”
Who are the doctors in the viral hydroxychloroquine video?
Despite social media platforms’ efforts to remove it, millions of people have seen a viral video of doctors making false and misleading claims about the coronavirus pandemic. Breitbart, a conservative news outlet, published the 40-plus-minute-long video on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube on July 27. It’s a live stream of a Washington, D.C., press conference organized by the Tea Party Patriots, a conservative group backed by Republican donors.
It's called doing what you can get away with
In 2005, while bragging about his history of sexual assault, a reality TV host laid out a simple theory of power. “When you’re a star,” Donald Trump explained to Access Hollywood host Billy Bush, “they let you do it.” Fifteen years later, Trump has gone from The Apprentice to the Oval Office, from grabbing women without their consent to picking a woman to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the supreme court. Yet his approach to power has remained quite consistent. “When you have the Senate, when you have the votes, you can sort of do what you want,” he told Fox & Friends.
Student Rights and the Role of Faculty
By Maryellen Weimer, PhD I remember the first time I tackled the controversial subject of students as customers. It was in an in-house newsletter, well before the advent of the Internet and e-mail.
40 Times People Noticed These Instagrammers That Are Beyond Fake And Decided To Expose Them Online (New Pics)
"The second is one that many people don’t like to address—the insecurities of those who feel the need to edit their photos. They’ve been editing their photos for so long it could mean losing the validation from their followers, losing followers, and maybe losing sponsors if they came clean. So, they would rather enjoy the false fame, than risk losing it over integrity." We also wanted to find out what steps could be taken to reduce the amount of photo-editing that people do online. "This is a very complicated question, but one step that we should fight for is to get rid of all filters that alter the shape, size, or proportions of anything to do with someone’s body," Cluelessnumber7 told us.
What happens if a president or nominee dies or is incapacitated? Around elections, it gets thorny
Around every corner, 2020 seems to produce a new surprising crisis. The latest: A president infected with COVID-19, little more than a month before Election Day. Not to mention a president who had been standing feet away from the opposing candidate at a debate just 48 hours before the president’s infection was confirmed. In other words, both Democrats and Republicans could face difficulties if any of these candidates get sick. The White House says President Donald Trump is experiencing mild symptoms, but on the afternoon of Oct. 2 he was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, which officials described as a cautionary measure.
