The Senate has voted to cancel $1.1 billion in public funding for NPR and PBS, a move described as “an unusual surrender of congressional spending power” by The New York Times, though the only thing particularly unusual here is the federal government deciding not to spend money. NPR CEO Katherine Maher has fought this outcome […]
Seattle property owners are once again suing the city over affordable housing fees they’re required to pay just for adding an additional home on their properties. Married couple Mehrit Teshome and Rocco Volker want to redevelop their single-family home into a smaller duplex and accessory dwelling unit. Local builder James Vert would like to construct […]
President Donald Trump swept into office in January with a promise to tackle what he called the “inflation crisis” that had kicked off under his predecessor. “I will direct all members of my cabinet to marshal the vast powers at their disposal to defeat what was record inflation and rapidly bring down costs and prices,” […]
Brazil’s highest court is no longer acting like an independent arbiter of justice. In recent years, the Supreme Federal Court has transformed into an overtly political actor—censoring dissent, banning platforms, and prosecuting opposition figures, all while consolidating power beyond its constitutional role. Although the 1988 Brazilian Constitution mandates a separation of powers, recent years have […]
As programs created to support America’s Afghan allies are increasingly shuttered, about 1,500 Afghans remain on U.S. base Camp As Sayliyah (CAS) in Doha, Qatar, uncertain about their futures. Around 1,200 CAS residents are waiting for processing through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), which has been suspended by executive order since January 20. The […]
It finally happened: After decades of putting on a show of threatening to pull public broadcasting’s federal funds, the Republican Party changed its mindset and decided to actually do it. The rescissions package that the Senate approved in the wee hours of Thursday morning will claw back the money that Congress allocated to the Corporation […]
A bit of backstory, from a 2019 N.Y. Daily News story (by Michael Elsen-Rooney & Stephen Rex Brown): A white principal and four black teachers at a Bronx middle school have filed dueling lawsuits accusing the other of racism as fallout continues over allegations that the embattled administrator barred Black History Month lessons. Former Bronx […]
From Monday’s decision by Judge David Lawson (E.D. Mich.) in Gordon v. City of Hamtramck: This case concerns a dispute over the display of flags on a series of 18 flagpoles located on city sidewalks lining Joseph Campau Avenue in the City of Hamtramck’s downtown historic district. It is undisputed that the flagpoles are on […]
Senate approves cancellation of public broadcast funds: This is possibly the only kind of cancellation I can get behind! Early this morning, the Senate voted 51–48 to remove $9 billion allocated for foreign aid and public broadcasting at the behest of the White House. Roughly $8 billion is for foreign aid, while roughly $1 billion will […]
The “Big Beautiful Bill” did a lot of things, not all of them good. One positive step was to repeal many of the Inflation Reduction Act’s green energy subsidies. It’s a little disappointing that Congress didn’t repeal all of them, as President Donald Trump promised during the campaign. Yet it’s also somewhat amazing to witness […]