Breaking News

This page features brief excerpts of stories published by the mainstream media and, less frequently, blogs, alternative media, and even obviously biased sources. The excerpts are taken directly from the websites cited in each source note. Quotation marks are not used.

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• 
• SOURCE: Slate
  3/30/2023
  

  How Paris Kicked out the Cars

  Planners and politicians used post-WWII prosperity to remake Paris for cars, making it one of the most car-saturated big cities. Recent changes led by Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo have show what can happen when priority is given to air quality and public space (though not every Parisian agrees). 

• 
• SOURCE: National Catholic Reporter
  3/30/2023
  

  Vatican Repudiates "Doctrine of Discovery" that Justified Colonialism by Catholic Nations

  The Vatican acknowledged that certain papal bulls dating to the 15th century have been adopted to justify the abusive and even genocidal acts of colonizers, though it did also suggest that secular authorities manipulated and selectively interpreted church statements out of context for political reasons. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  3/28/2023
  

  To Understand Antivaxers, Consider Aristotle

  There is a long history of refusal of scientific discovery; does this explain hesitancy or refusal of COVID vaccines? 

• 
• SOURCE: Fast Company
  3/29/2023
  

  Howard Schultz Gets Roasted More than Starbucks Beans by Senators

  by Kim Kelly

  The CEO's reluctance to appear before a Senate Committee was made clear when Senator Bernie Sanders, labor law experts, and Starbucks workers confronted him with allegations that he violated labor laws in seeking to keep the coffee chain union-free. 

• 
• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  3/23/2023
  

  A Secret Joke Clouds Harvard's Affirmative Action Case

  Years ago, a Department of Education official sent a joke in the form of a mock memo from Harvard's admissions office to the school's dean of admissions. The joke referenced Asian stereotypes. Its exact content, as referenced in a sidebar in a federal court trial, had been sealed, and then protected by mutual agreement between the trial judge and the parties. Why?

• 
• SOURCE: Vulture
  3/24/2023
  

  An Amateur Historian Helped Find Richard III's Remains Under a Parking Garage. Her Story Hits the Screen

  The Plantagenet King Richard III was portrayed as a villain by the Tudor dynasty that supplanted him in 1485 (including by Shakespeare). Philippa Langley came to question his bad reputation, and began investigations that led to the discovery of his remains

• 
• SOURCE: The Nation
  3/24/2023
  

  Why LAUSD Teachers Walked Out

  At the heart of the walkout of 60,000 education professionals is the reality that the school district's policies are keeping teachers and students in poverty that makes it harder to teach and learn, says a union official. 

• 
• SOURCE: Raw Story
  3/24/2023
  

  The Role of US Evangelicals in Radicalizing Ugandans Against LGBTQ Rights

  While the accusation that LGBTQ adults are a risk to the safety of children has recently reemerged in American politics, US evangelical groups have been encouraging it in Africa for years. 

• 
• SOURCE: Politico
  3/24/2023
  

  Culture Warrior Chris Rufo is DeSantis's Most Important Ally

  The closeness of the Florida governor's alliance with the fomer documentarian turned anti-CRT crusader shows DeSantis's commitment to claiming a position on the right of the culture wars. Who is setting the agenda? 

• 
• SOURCE: Polygon
  4/27/2023
  

  Vince McMahon's Control of Pro Wrestling's History Key to Controlling its Present

  by Abraham Josephine Reisman

  As politicians seek to control the teaching of history, Vince McMahon's reign at the top of pro wrestling offers a cautionary tale for a nation that can't face its past. 

• 
• SOURCE: NBC News
  3/23/2023
  

  SC Barbecue Restaurant With History of Civil Rights Rejection in News Again

  In 1964, Piggie Park Barbecue defended its owner's choice no to serve Black customers by claiming racial integration violated his religious beliefs, a claim the Supreme Court later called "patently frivolous." 

• 
• SOURCE: Slate
  3/23/2023
  

  Chair of Florida Charter School Board on Firing of Principal: About Policy, Not David Statue

  Although the nudity of Michelangelo's David might not be the root cause of a principal's firing, the board of the Hillsdale College-affiliated charter school at the center of the controversy has interesting views about the educational enterprise. 

• 
• SOURCE: TeenVogue
  3/22/2023
  

  Graduate Student Strikes Fight Back Against Decades of Austerity, Seek to Revive Opportunity

  Participants in these actions explain that the goal isn't only pay and benefits for graduate student workers, but returning public higher education to a state of accessibility for millions of students and opportunity for millions of workers after decades of budget cuts and privatization. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  3/21/2023
  

  When Right Wingers Struggle with Defining "Woke" it Shows they Oppose Pursuing Equality

  by Adam Serwer

  "To believe that the disadvantages of race, class, and gender imposed lawfully over centuries never occurred or entirely disappeared in just a few decades is genuinely “radical” in a negative way; to believe that creating those disadvantages was wrong and that they should be rectified is not."

• 
• SOURCE: National Security Archive
  3/20/2023
  

  Strangelove on the Square: Secret USAF Films Showed Airmen What to Expect if Nuclear War Broke Out

  Air Force training films, with their bloodless procedural guidance for launching armageddon, provide a surreal insight into the Cold War that put Kubrick's absurdism to shame (yes, HNN will feature Dr. Strangelove-related content at any opportunity). 

• 
• SOURCE: NPR
  3/22/2023
  

  The Women of the Montgomery Bus Boycott

  "It felt like Harriet Tubman's hands were pushing me down on one shoulder and Sojourner Truth's hand on me pushed me down on another one. History had me glued to the seat." – Claudette Colvin

• 
• SOURCE: BookRiot
  3/22/2023
  

  US House "Parental Rights" Bill Threatens to Take Book Banning Nationwide

  Each of the five “common sense principles” the bill's sponsor articulates are already granted to parents. What the bill really seeks is to empowe political groups to dictate the content of education and advance the privatization of public schools. 

• 
• SOURCE: Associated Press
  3/22/2023
  

  DeSantis Moves to Expand "Don't Say Gay" Law Coverage to all Grades

  The move would exempt lessons in state-mandated health instruction, but such courses would require allowing parents to opt out of them. The change could be implemented by the state board of education without legislative approval. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Bulwark
  3/17/2023
  

  Will a "No Labels" Campaign Wreck the 2024 Election? We Can't Ask Group's Secret Donors.

  by Norman Ornstein and Dennis Aftergut

  The group of Washington centrists floating the possibility of a third-part run are operating from the false premise of a vast middle of the electorate. While such a candidate won't win, it will likely tip the election, something the group's secret donors are probably hoping for. 

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  3/20/2023
  

  Excerpts from a Civics Textbook I Assume Would be Welcome in Florida

  by Alexandra Petri

  "American history is full of many heroes, whose accomplishments we will have no problem telling you about in the state of Florida! They fought for justice, which was brave of them, if a little redundant, because there was no specific injustice to fight against."