Voter News
This Is Not the Time for a Third Presidential Candidate
I’ve long been a fan of No Labels, the organization that works to reduce political polarization and Washington gridlock. I spoke at its launch event in 2010. I’ve admired the Problem Solvers Caucus, a No Labels-inspired effort that brings Republicans and Democrats in Congress together to craft bipartisan legislation. Last September, when No Labels wanted…
Read MoreHow Pat Robertson Created the Religious Right’s Model for Political Power
The celebrity minister, who died Thursday, built a media empire and openly sought to leverage his popularity among evangelicals to influence government and the culture. More than 30 years ago, a Baptist television star had a vision. Pat Robertson imagined a nation where conservative Christian values reigned in the halls of power. Abortion would be…
Read MoreKevin McCarthy Facing Tough Choices After House Mutiny
Lawmakers in both parties fear that the rebellion by the extreme right could endanger spending bills and other big legislative initiatives if it persists, shaping the speakership in the most difficult of ways. With his right flank in open revolt and keeping a stranglehold on the House floor, Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces two unappealing choices…
Read MoreTexas Will Place a Floating Barrier Between U.S. and Mexico
Gov. Greg Abbott said the state will put a 1,000-foot string of buoys in the middle of the Rio Grande to deter migrants from entering the United States. The state of Texas will place a 1,000-foot floating barrier in the middle of the Rio Grande to prevent migrants from entering the United States, Gov. Greg…
Read More3108 – Israel’s Shadowy Weapons Industry; Racist Predatory Lending w/ Antony Loewenstein, Ramenda Cyrus
It’s an EmMajority Report Thursday! She talks to independent journalist Antony Loewenstein to discuss his recent book The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World. Then, she is joined by Ramenda Cyrus, John Lewis Writing Fellow at The American Prospect, to discuss her recent piece entitled “Predatory Lending’s Prey of Color.” First, Emma runs through updates on the Freedom Caucus’ debt ceiling tantrum, Comer walking back his contempt vote, the Supreme Court turning out a surprising Voting Rights Act decision, Fox’s lawsuit against Tucker, growing jobless claims, the passing of Pat Robertson, Louisiana’s gender-affirming care ban, and foreshadowing of a coup in Colombia, also diving into Steve Malloy’s appearance with Laura Ingraham to reassure us that the health effects of smoke are actually just a liberal conspiracy. Antony Loewenstein then dives right into his reporting on Israel’s export of their apartheid technologies, beginning with his work in Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Honduras, and his realization that in these very geographically-specific conflicts, there were always traces of the tactics and technologies employed by Israel in their occupation of Palestine. Next, he and Emma step back to assess Israeli apartheid as the longest-running occupation in modern history, with the Israeli economy – largely in tech and defense – raking in the big bucks from the relationship, with financial ties to the West from the beginning of the Nakba strengthening their economic and political support over the last 75 years. Antony then assesses Israel’s role as the 10th biggest arms dealer in the world, despite their relatively small size, with the occupation of Palestine acting as one of the most active military and intelligence testing grounds in the world, before he walks Emma through the long history of this industry and export in Israel, including their role in supporting genocide across the Global south during the 1970s and ‘80s, and how they have kept those ties strong over the last decade. Next, Ramenda Cyrus walks through the story of Ms. Lilly to demonstrate the prominent and growing issue of predatory lending in the US, parsing through the tactics these predators use, and the infrastructural gaps they exploit. Wrapping up, Cyrus and Emma explore the particular role of Bank-deserts in inflaming this issue, why this exploitation primarily affects low-income people of color, and how this all relates to the defanging of Dodd-Frank. And in the Fun Half: Emma is joined by Brandon Sutton and Matt Binder as they assess the Supreme Court’s surprising decision on an Alabama voting rights case, Tom from Raleigh discusses the validity of abstinence, and Chris Christie launches his campaign with an attack on the Trump family swamp. DeSantis catches backlash for a low blow against Trump (literally just using AI), Dan from Boise explores the idea of abortion “tourism” and the backlash to it, and the MR Crew covers LIV Golf’s merger with PGA. Tommy from somewhere gives some music recs, David Sacks spreads his billions between the DeSantis and RFK bandwagons, and Kristi Noem starts her campaign for Trump’s VP, plus, your calls and IMs! Check out Antony’s book here: https://www.versobooks.com/products/2684-the-palestine-laboratory Check out Ramenda’s piece here: https://prospect.org/economy/2023-06-05-predatory-lendings-prey-of-color/ Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app Check out today’s sponsors: Sunset Lake CBD: Sunset Lake CBD is celebrating dads this year— regular dads, dog dads, andeven plant dads. Save 20% on your order at https://sunsetlakecbd.com with coupon code DADHAT (one word.) Orders over $100 will get a FREE Sunset Lake CBD Dadhat included with their purchase. Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattBinder @MattLech @BF1nn @BradKAlsop Check out Matt’s show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Subscribe to Brandon’s show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Subscribe to Discourse Blog, a newsletter and website for progressive essays and related fun partly run by AM Quickie writer Jack Crosbie. https://discourseblog.com/ Check out Matt Binder’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Check out Ava Raiza’s music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder – https://majorityreportradio.com/
Read MoreTexas Pulls Funding for Child ID Kits After Investigation Finds Little Evidence of Their Effectiveness
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. This article is co-published with The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan local newsroom that informs and engages with Texans. Sign up for The Brief Weekly to get up to speed on their essential…
Read MoreProPublica Adds More Than a Million New Records to Nonprofit Explorer
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. ProPublica has added more than a million new tax records for tax-exempt organizations to Nonprofit Explorer, making it easier to assess the finances of charities operating across the nation. The update includes more…
Read More武汉跳楼母亲悲剧:网暴之恶背后的匿名狂欢
中国已发生过多起网暴致人自杀事件。网络喷子是哪种人?为何人们会在匿名性的掩护下变得失控和极端?对于网民在社媒平台上流露出的恶意,当局和科技公司应该如何应对? 欢迎阅读本期“海外华人札记”,每周四我们邀请常驻美国的资深中文媒体人撰稿,一起从华人视角解读、探讨新闻热点、品析时报精华文章。本期的作者是现居休斯敦的撰稿人詹涓。欢迎点击这里订阅,或推荐给朋友。 Minh Uong/The New York Times 最近在中国有一个讨论很热烈的新闻:武汉一所小学里,老师在校园开车导致一个一年级小学生被撞身亡。几天后,孩子的妈妈杨女士坠楼身亡。有报道说,在生命的最后时光里,这位妈妈因为长得好看、穿着得体而遭到网友恶意揣测。他们对她评头论足,甚至发起网暴。 这几天在微博和我的朋友圈里,很多人围绕着在这起悲剧中讨论网暴是否失焦吵了起来。很多人指出,导致杨女士自杀的原因更有可能是事后权力高高在上,校方和老师没有道歉,武汉当地警方采取了维稳的惯性做法。但我觉得网暴同样是一个值得探讨的问题,各种网暴言论是多种病因反映出的症结,跟权力同样密不可分。 杨女士遭遇的评论充满恶意:她面容姣好,结果在网上被诽谤从事不良行业,“以后养大的孩子也不是好人”,不然就是“想成为网红”;她在面临人生最大的不幸时仍然言行克制,结果被揣测是对儿子遇难“看不出伤心的意思”;她与家人在学校门口维权,在社媒平台和接受采访时表达的诉求主要是希望老师、学校和相关部门前来道歉和祭奠孩子,结果被斥为嫌赔偿款太少,“聚众闹事”;就连在她自杀身亡的新闻下,仍有人对她发出尖刻的批评,称“本来正常处理就行了,心理素质差又要去喜欢网络炒作!最后就这个结果了”。 这些针对她的评论看似极端,但在网络上并不罕见。很多女性都有过在网上开开心心晒照片,却遭到一通容貌甚至荡妇羞辱的经历。很多维权无门的人也都曾被网民简单粗暴地扣上一个“闹”字——这些评论者恐怕只有当自己也四处碰壁的那一天才能意识到,在维稳第一的政治背景下,“闹”是唯一的出路。从岁月静好到坠入谷底之间,有时只隔着一场意外。 在这起事件之前,中国已发生过多起网暴致人自杀事件,包括上海疫情期间,有女生为了给爸爸送饭,深夜叫跑腿后给了200块红包,被人斥为虚伪,后来跳楼自杀;有女生染了粉色头发去看生病的爷爷,结果被疯狂辱骂,最终抑郁自杀。 有研究说,全球38%的女性亲身遭遇过网络暴力。而皮尤的一项调查发现,41%的美国人亲身经历过某种形式的在线骚扰。网络喷子是哪种人?时报专栏作家戴维·布鲁克斯曾从事过社交媒体研究,他指出,网络喷子通常在精神变态、虐待狂和自恋方面得分很高。“网络媒体并没有让他们变得恶毒;他们原本就那么恶毒。网络给了他们一个充分发挥恶意的平台。” 但也许更多无意中附和网暴的人更为普通。时报科技专栏作者介绍了一位长期研究网络行为的学者的发现,指出“虽然人们已经学会了在现实世界中抵制冲动,但在互联网上,他们却屈服于冲动的诱惑。互联网成为了一个简单的出口,让我们大喊大叫,并感到片刻的满足,即使我们真的只是对着空气大喊大叫”。也就是说,谁都有可能在网络匿名性的掩护下化为喷子——甚至可能也包括你我。也许我们都曾有过在某一刻恶意爆棚,或者自以为主持正义而言语失控的瞬间。 这两年我就亲眼看到在我的微博评论区里,几个平素温和的ID可能会因为对疫情防控或政治的观点不和而大吵。时报的一篇报道甚至发现,在疫情期间转为远程工作后,连同一家公司的员工在工作群里的谈话都变得更加粗鲁无礼。 在上述科技专栏中,作者认为,对于人们在网上流露出的恶意,个人几乎无能为力,真正能掌握主动权的是科技公司。但在美国,科技公司不需要对用户的帖子承担责任,自然也没有多少动力积极扮演守门人的角色。而德国过去几年里开辟了另一条道路,对网上仇恨言论进行刑事起诉。德国当局对人们在网上的侮辱、威胁和骚扰行为提出指控。警方突袭民宅,没收电子设备,在某些情况下,还将违法者送进监狱。他们认为,起诉的威胁不会根除网上的仇恨,但起码能把一些最恶劣的行为推回到阴影中。这种做法能在保护言论自由和有效监管间取得平衡吗? 你曾遭遇过网络暴力吗?你对网络暴力泛滥有何看法?欢迎致信[email protected]与我们分享。 深圳城中村白沙洲,摄于2016年。Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times 中文社交媒体热门话题: 最近深圳人讨论最热烈的话题之一是“统租房”,什么叫统租?它指的是统一获得城中村的房源,将它们进行改造,最后统一出租管理。这个经营思路类似原先由企业运营的长租公寓;而现在换成是国家队进场,要由国企负责实施,政府出资补贴。 深圳的城中村提供的民房便宜、方便、地处繁华地带,往往是收入不高的新深圳人在这座城市立足的第一站。试点统租后,装修过的房子会不会涨租,租客还能不能负担得起?统租房会不会如网传所说的那样对租户设定年龄限制?统租房又会不会搅乱整体租赁市场?一些网民联想到了2017年底北京驱逐“低端”人口,深圳会不会也有可能通过提高租房门槛,让一部分低收入的劳动者被迫离开这座城市? 周三,穿过布鲁克林大桥的行人。Dave Sanders for The New York Times 近期不容错过的文章还有: 这两天来自加拿大的野火导致的烟雾正笼罩在美国东北部上空,很快美国很多地方还将迎来飓风季节。在极端天气日益频繁的今天,一些对灾难有着充分经验的人介绍了他们的应急包里有哪些内容,也许对你有用。 大家小时候逢年过节走亲戚时,是不是都喜欢互送一盒丹麦蓝罐曲奇?曲奇吃完后,家人还会把一个个铁盒存起来,一盒放其他饼干,一盒用来存硬币,再用一盒放发票或者火车飞机票。没想到时报杂志的一篇文章讲了一个类似的故事,作者谈到在印度移民家庭中,丹麦蓝罐也非常常见。蓝罐曾见证移民的漂泊和失落,打开罐子后发现里面没有饼干、而只有一堆零钱的失落,也似乎与他们在移民路上的艰辛与失意重叠在一起。 热爱珍珠的人肯定都知道御本木这个品牌,它是为数不多的从基础材料研发到销售包揽一切的高级珠宝品牌之一。时报记者来到了御本木位于日本志摩的珍珠养殖场,带领读者了解珍珠养殖的过程,并观看了其中的一个关键步骤:将珠核以类似“牙科手术”的精准插入牡蛎体内。我还读到了一个新知识:过去收集牡蛎的工作专门由海女进行,而现在这一步已经由机械作业取代。 51岁的纳杰斯·穆罕默迪是伊朗最著名的人权和妇女权利活动家。读到下面的这串数字,我难以想象她的勇气与坚毅:司法部门判定穆罕默迪有罪五次,逮捕她13次,判处她31年监禁和154次鞭刑。她的丈夫说,今年又有三起针对她的司法案件立案,可能会导致更多的定罪。在德黑兰监狱服刑期间,她继续鼓励公民不服从,组织静坐抗议,为女囚举办讲习班。时报在未经当局许可的情况下,通过电话采访了狱中的她,她说:“我每天坐在窗前,凝视着绿色植物,梦想着一个自由的伊朗。”这句话既美丽,又有力。 感谢阅读本期“海外华人札记”,欢迎来信与我们分享您的想法:[email protected]。点击这里查看往日更新。欢迎在Twitter(@nytchinese)、Instagram和Facebook上关注我们,了解更多中文资讯。也欢迎访问中文网首页阅读更多新闻。下期再见。
Read MoreWhat Is the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund?
The secretive $700 billion investment fund has set its sights on tourism, job creation, private equity and, now, golf. Behind the head-spinning news this week that the PGA Tour wants to merge with the upstart Saudi rival called LIV Golf was an entity with billions of dollars to back the deal: Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth…
Read MoreProsecutors Tell Trump’s Legal Team He Is a Target of Investigation
The notice from the office of the special counsel Jack Smith suggested that an indictment was on the horizon in the investigation into the former president’s handling of classified documents. Federal prosecutors have informed the legal team for former President Donald J. Trump that he is a target of their investigation into his handling of…
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