Californians Could Vote to Give Themselves the Measles
Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. This fall, Californians may have the opportunity to vote on a catch-all ballot initiative that would ban genetically modified organisms and get rid of school vaccination requirements. But that’s not all. The so-called California Clean Environment Initiative would also prohibit the use of 300 substances,…
Justice Department Seeks More Funds for Law Enforcement While Squeezing Civil Rights
Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the Jusice Department on February 2.Jose Luis Magana/AP Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. The Justice Department is requesting increased spending to fight violent crime and address illegal immigration while squeezing the resources of its Civil Rights Division, which works to protect Americans from discrimination. “The Department…
After the Hurricane, Puerto Rico’s Suicide Rates Spike
Samuel D. Keenan/Planet Pix via ZUMA Wire Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. Reported suicides in Puerto Rico jumped more than 50 percent in the months after Hurricane Maria ripped through the island, according to a recent report from the local government’s department of heath. The report counted 27 suicides in September…
Trump’s Controversial Pick to Run the 2020 Census Withdraws
Mother Jones illustration; Evan Agostini/Invision/AP Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. The Trump administration’s controversial pick to run the 2020 census has withdrawn from consideration to be deputy director of the US Census Bureau, according to sources close to the bureau. In November, Politico reported that the administration planned to put…
The Robots Really Are Coming. But in the Meantime, Let’s Not Go Crazy
This is just a harmless little “cleaning robot.” Sure it is.Kenjiro Matsuo/AFLO via ZUMA Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. Over the weekend, I heard the name Andrew Yang for the first time. Who’s that? Well, he’s running for president, and as the New York Times points out, he’ll have plenty…
Why Is Scott Pruitt So Obsessed With His Security?
Cheriss May/NurPhoto via ZUMA Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. The Washington Post puts some numbers to a story that we’ve known for a while: EPA director Scott Pruitt flies first class a lot. He also has a much bigger security detail than most heads of cabinet-level agencies: On Monday, June…