Author: nick

Marjorie Cohn on the Roberts’ Court’s demolition of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the law that brought an end to Jim Crow system of post-Civil War legalized racial segregation. President Lyndon B. Johnson shaking hands with Martin Luther King Jr. at the signing of the Voting Rights Act on Aug. 6, 1965. (Yoichi Okamoto, LBJ Library, Wikimedia Commons) By Marjorie CohnSpecial to Consortium News In perhaps its most insidious decision in nearly a century, the U.S. Supreme Court disemboweled Section 2 of the landmark Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965, the “crown jewel” of the U.S. civil rights movement. The VRA…

Reproduction of a 1900 minstrel show poster, originally published by the Strobridge Litho Co. Library of Congress. Darkology, written by Princeton historian Rhae Lynn Barnes, is a comprehensive, jaw-dropping survey of the grotesqueries known as minstrelsy and blackface. The book explodes the comforting notion that the minstrel show was a long-ago curiosity, an outdated relic of a less enlightened time. It was not a curiosity, nor did it lurk in the cultural margins: It was a shockingly entrenched, pervasive form that saturated the American landscape. Nor, historically, was it that long ago: blackface lasted until the 1970s. It exists, in…

As a ceasefire to the war with Iran entered its 24th day, Tehran responded via Pakistani mediators to a U.S. peace proposal, according to reports published Friday.  Axios wrote that Iran’s foreign ministry had presented its terms but did not specify what they are. Last weekend, Iran gave a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz but to table the issue of Iran’s nuclear energy program. This week the White House sent a list of amendments to that proposal, reinserting the nuclear issue. Iran’s Friday response to those amendments indicates that negotiations are not completely frozen, though diplomatic progress appears…

The research on diet sodas has about as much clarity as a glass of Diet Coke.Studies contradict one another. Some are funded by the beverage industry. The way they are structured can lead to different findings. Comparisons matter, too. Are diet sodas better for your long-term health than sugary sodas? Probably, yes. But compared to water? Not so much.Garnish that with claims about the artificial sweetener aspartame causing cancer, diet sodas being addictive, and hyper-sweet flavors affecting brain chemistry, and the health outlook on diet sodas is even more complex.Here’s a quick guide to navigating the low-calorie beverage menu —…

“When will traffic at the Strait of Hormuz return to normal?” Depending on when you believe this will happen and which prediction market you’re using, a $100 position on this event contract could net as much as $400. But if you live in one of the states suing the prediction market Kalshi, you might not be able to profit off your hunch. In April, Wisconsin sued Kalshi and several other prediction markets—platforms that let people make bets on the outcomes of various events—alleging that they facilitate illegal sports gambling. The platforms, and their millions of users, have found an unlikely…

Smart storage is as important as the supplies themselves. Instead of keeping everything in one hidden spot, use a “layered” approach by distributing items in key areas around your home for faster access. Create immediate response hubs in critical locations. Store life-saving items in the specific rooms where emergencies are most likely to happen, so they are within arm’s reach when seconds count. Keep essentials by your bed for nighttime emergencies. This should include a flashlight, sturdy shoes and a charged phone to handle power outages or the need to evacuate quickly from your bedroom. Prepare an exit zone by…

Thursday, April 30th on RealClearPolitics – Joined by RCP Senior Elections Analyst Sean Trende and Peter Berkowitz, Author of Explaining Israel Source link

For almost a year now, America’s two parties have been engaged in a mass congressional redistricting battle royale. The fun kicked off in Texas last July, when Gov. Greg Abbott, following President Donald Trump’s urging, first pushed the Texas Legislature to redistrict the Lone Star State’s congressional maps in a pro-Republican direction. Missouri and North Carolina soon followed, prompting California Gov. Gavin Newsom to get in on the action: Golden State voters approved the use of a new map at the ballot box last November. On April 21, Virginia voters narrowly approved a new congressional map that heavily favors Democrats.…

Image by Chester Ho. “A terrifying Compound Drought is ruthlessly erasing the water supply on U.S. soil right now, and the mainstream media is entirely missing the true threat.” (PT Media-Documentary d/d April 21, 2026) This article is based upon an analysis of a climate change black swan event currently spreading across America. The analysis comes via a 26-min. PT Media-Documentary based upon: “All raw empirical data, PDSI severity indexes, and hydrological models presented in this analysis are sourced directly from NASA, NOAA, and the U.S. Drought Monitor to ensure absolute scientific accuracy.” “By mid-April 2026, the U.S. Drought Monitor…

I kept Robert F. Kennedy Jr. out of the West Wing. Now I owe him an apology. Source link