With “Lover” Taylor Swift Says Goodbye
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty On October 24, 2006, Taylor Swift, all of 16 years old, released her debut album, Taylor Swift. The album peaked on the Billboard 200 at No. 5—a worthy spot for a debut album—and was eventually certified as seven-times platinum by RIAA. Since then, every single Swift album has peaked at No. 1 on…
A Tennessee Republican Accused of Sexual Misconduct With Underage Girls Just Said He Isn’t Running Again
Rep. David Byrd (R-Waynesboro) attends a special session of the House of Representatives on Friday, Aug. 23, 2019, in Nashville, Tenn. The expulsion of Byrd, who’s accused of sexual misconduct by three women nearly 30 years ago, was discussed during the session.Mark Humphrey/AP Tennessee state Rep. David Byrd, who has been accused of sexual misconduct…
Exclusive: In a Devastated Town, Bernie Sanders Explains His Plan for a Climate Change Revolution
Rich Pedroncelli/AP Bernie Sanders wants the United States to combat climate change like a nation at war. The Democratic presidential candidate detailed his new climate platform on Thursday in Paradise, California, while surrounded by devastation that wouldn’t look out of place on a battlefield. Today Paradise is a ghost of itself after last year’s deadly…
NYC Schools Are Doing OK!
Bob Somerby points me today to the lastest test scores for New York City students. Here’s an entirely gratuitous chart showing how they compared to the statewide average for 8th graders: On average, city kids did better than the rest of the state. That’s not bad. Maybe New York City schools aren’t quite the cesspools…
Remembering the Two David Kochs
Mother Jones illustration; Michel Delsol/Getty; Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP David Koch, who died Friday at 79, knew he was living on borrowed time. And for nearly three decades, time was generous with the loan. On February 1, 1991, he was in the first-class cabin of USAir Flight 1493 when the Boeing 737 collided with a SkyWest…
Trump Appoints Himself Emperor of All Commerce
From the Wall Street Journal: President Trump said U.S. companies were “hereby ordered” to start looking for alternatives to doing business in China after Beijing said it would impose tariffs on $75 billion worth of additional U.S. products. ….Mr. Trump’s comments came in response to China’s plan, laid out Friday, to impose tariffs of 5%…