AP Confirms That Russia Was Behind the 2016 Email Hacks
Danil Shamkin/NurPhoto via ZUMA This should be pretty obvious by now, but apparently a lot of people are still skeptical that the Russian government was behind the email hacking that upended the 2016 campaign. So here’s an AP story about their own investigation: An Associated Press investigation into the digital break-ins that disrupted the U.S.…
WSJ: Russian Twitter Backed Trump From the Very Start
Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via ZUMA This is from the Wall Street Journal: Kremlin-backed support for Donald Trump’s candidacy over social media began much earlier than previously known, a new analysis of Twitter data shows. Russian Twitter accounts posing as Americans began lavishing praise on Mr. Trump and attacking his rivals within weeks after he announced his…
We Should Ban All Semi-Automatic Firearms
San Antonio Express-News via ZUMA Atrios says that if lefties want to fire people up about gun control, they need to get more passionate about it: To inspire hardcore single issue voters you have to take an absolutist stance on things. I’m not saying this is good politics….Still, there is literally no politician who goes…
Republicans Are Laser-Targeting Enemies in Their Tax Bill
Rolf Vennenbernd/DPA via ZUMA Inside Higher Ed runs down the impact of the Republican tax bill on colleges and universities: The plan would impose a 1.4 percent excise tax on college endowments at private universities….double the standard individual tax deduction, meaning much weaker incentives for charitable contributions to colleges….end student loan interest rate deductions….restructures the…
Crown Prince Mohammed Has Cemented His Absolute Control of Saudi Arabia
Shealah Craighead/Planet Pix via ZUMA In early 2015, the King of Saudi Arabia died and was succeeded by the 79-year-old Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. King Salman immediately named his son, Prince Mohammed, Minister of Defense, where Mohammed gained effective control over the kingdom’s military. In 2016, apparently at Mohammed’s urging, Salman began a campaign…
When a Small Town’s Private Prison Goes Bust
Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, Minn. Mark Vancleave/ZUMA This commentary was published in partnership with The Marshall Project, a nonprofit newsroom covering the US criminal justice system. Sign up for their newsletter, or follow The Marshall Project on Facebook or Twitter. Bob Thompson, the city coordinator of Appleton, Minnesota, had a bright idea in the spring of 1990. Thompson,…