Author: nick

From Fourth Circuit Judge Julius Richardson, joined by Chief Judge Albert Diaz, in today’s Doe v. Mast: To protect Plaintiffs and their family members living in Afghanistan, the district court issued a protective order that prohibited Defendants and their lawyers from “disclosing any information that directly or indirectly identifies Plaintiffs or their family members to any person … unless that person first executes a non-disclosure agreement.” … Although the order constitutes a content-based prior restraint, it fits into one of the narrow exceptions in which prior restraints can be permissible, subject to strict scrutiny. And the order satisfies strict scrutiny:…

Do Freedom of Information Act door logs reveal that former President Joe Biden didn’t enter the Oval Office after the 2024 election? No, evidence shows that’s a dubious claim. An April 21 X post showing an image of Biden looking down reads, “Newly released FOIA door logs show that former President Joe Biden didn’t enter the Oval Office once after the 2024 election. He was president for another 75 days.”  The post with over 249,000 views as of April 22 said that during that time former President Barack Obama, billionaire philanthropist George Soros, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Adam Schiff,…

Today’s decision by Fourth Circuit Judge Julius Richardson, joined by Chief Judge Albert Diaz, in Doe v. Mast involved a gag order on defendants: The order barred the defendants from “disclosing any information that directly or indirectly identifies Plaintiffs or their family members to any person … unless that person first executes a non-disclosure agreement.” The court ultimately upheld the order, because of national security concerns that are only very rarely present in such pseudonymous claims (see this post for more, including more on the factual background). But in the process, the court held three things that will be significant…

When you strip away the propaganda, foreign aid is rarely about charity. It is about strategy, war, and buying influence. The latest long-run data show that from 1946 through 2024, more than $1 trillion in inflation-adjusted U.S. foreign aid went to just five recipients: Israel at $337.0 billion, Egypt at $198.9 billion, former South Vietnam at $193.8 billion, Afghanistan at $168.5 billion, and South Korea at $127.6 billion. Together, those five alone absorbed roughly 30% of all U.S. foreign aid since World War II. In fiscal 2024, overall U.S. foreign aid obligations were about $82.3 billion, covering 177 countries, and about two-thirds…

The Virginia redistricting amendment reshapes congressional maps, raising concerns about fairness, gerrymandering, and the broader political impact nationwide. Source link

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for fraud, alleging the civil rights group secretly used donor money to pay leaders and members of white supremacist and other extremist groups for inside information, the Justice Department said. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Alabama-based nonprofit raised millions of dollars that it used for an informant program that prosecutors say directed as much as $3 million to sources embedded in hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan. The indictment alleges the SPLC used front organizations to move money through bank accounts without detection and hide the…

Two weeks ago, the Houston City Council enacted an ordinance clarifying the extent to which local police may cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. When police detain a pedestrian or driver, the ordinance says, they may not prolong the stop after its purpose has been accomplished simply because a background check reveals a civil administrative warrant issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). That ordinance irked Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who threatened to withhold $110 million in state public safety grants unless it is repealed. The ordinance also provoked a lawsuit by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who argues that it…

Trump’s portrayal of himself as Jesus, or anointed by Jesus, is typical of cult leaders. Cult leaders are immune from rational and fact-based critique. That’s why all the chatter about fissures in the MAGA universe misreads Trump cultists. Holy Shit – Mr. Fish. By Chris HedgesScheerPost During the two years I spent writing American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America, I encountered numerous mini-Trumps. These self-proclaimed pastors — very few had any formal religious training — preyed on the despair of their congregants. They were surrounded by sycophants and could not be questioned. They merged fact with fiction,…

Virginia Hands Democrats Another Win in Redistricting Wars Source link

Britain, which has long restricted what people eat and consume, has now banned tobacco for future generations. On Tuesday, Parliament passed the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. The law, first proposed by then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in 2023, bans anyone born on or after January 1, 2009, from legally buying tobacco products. “[This] is a landmark bill,” Health Minister Gillian Merron told the House of Lords on Monday. “It will create a smoke-free generation.” However, if the goal truly is better public health, a government ban is unnecessary. Like most of the Western world, the smoking rate in Britain has declined…