Governors Greg Abbott in Texas and Ron DeSantis in Florida are following the playbook of segregationists who provided one-way bus tickets to Northern cities for Black Southerners in the 1960s. At that time, the fight for racial equality was attracting national attention and support from many white Americans, inspiring some to join interracial Freedom Rides organized by civil rights groups.
Commentary
Discovering the Billions of Bigger and Better Super-Earths Out There
There are tens of billions of super-Earths in habitable zones where liquid water can exist in the Milky Way alone. To date, astronomers have discovered two dozen super-Earth exoplanets that are, if not the best of all possible worlds, theoretically more habitable than Earth.
‘Not My King’: Protesting a Monarchy in Mourning
A professor from the United States who tweeted a critical comment of the queen has been subject to significant public backlash. Police in Britain have questioned protestors expressing anti-monarchy sentiments, and in some cases, arrested them.
Sen. Rick Scott’s Epic Fail: Squandered Millions and Crap Candidates
Republicans often have unsavory friends, people like Hungarian despot Viktor Orbán, white nationalist Tucker Carlson, and that petulant Oompa Loompa who kept top secret nuclear documents stuffed in a box at his beach house. So why is Rick Scott getting hated on?
The Broadband Deception: Accurate Speed Data
Unlike other advertisements for goods and services – for example, what a car manufacturer tells a customer about expected fuel efficiency – there are no federally set standards for measuring broadband service speeds. This means there is no clear way to tell whether customers are getting what they pay for.
Between Too-Early School Start Times and Too Much Screen Time, Teens Are Zonked Out
Less than 30% of high school students sleep the recommended amount. Among middle schoolers, nearly 60% do not get enough sleep at night. The causes: too- early school start times, lack of morning exposure to daylight and excessive exposure to bright electric light and screens late in the evening.
Developed Nation No More: How the U.S. Is Falling
The United States may regard itself as a “leader of the free world,” but an index of development released in July 2022 places the country much farther down the list, ranking between Cuba and Bulgaria. Both are widely regarded as developing countries..
Child Poverty Falls to Record Low Thanks to Government Help
The U.S. government’s most accurate measure of child poverty fell to 5.2% in 2021, the lowest level on record and a decline of 4.5 percentage points from a year earlier. This sharp reduction was due, in large part, to generous government benefits. The decline would have been even larger had the government made it easier for families to receive those benefits.
The Catholic Church Is Diversifying Down to Its Controversies
Tribalism, debates over LGBTQ rights, polygamy, the ordaining of women, along with poverty, adapting to local culture, sexuality and gender, church governance and the continuing sexual abuse crisis are all part of a changing Catholic Church.
Barbara Ehrenreich Made Not Getting By in America Visible
Barbara Ehrenreich, who died on Sept. 1, is best known for her 2001 book “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America.” Ehrenreich’s ability to document in clear, accessible prose exactly how low-wage work forced people into an unavoidable grind remains a revelation of a wide divide on how the other half lives.
