Today: October 07, 2024
Today: October 07, 2024

Latest From The Los Angeles Post

Political

What is the difference between nationalism and patriotism?

Donald Trump, left, and Harry Truman: Two former presidents who had different ideas about nationalism and patriotism. The Conversation, with images from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-NC During his presidency, Donald Trump said, “We’re putting America first … we’re taking care of ourselves for a change,” and then declared, “I’m a nationalist.” In another speech, he stated that under his watch, the U.S. had “embrace[d] the doctrine of patriotism.” Trump is now running for president again. When he announced his candidacy, he stated that he “need[s] every patriot on board because this is not just a campaign, this is a quest

What is the difference between nationalism and patriotism?
Political

Americans in former Confederate states more likely to say violent protest against government is justified, 160 years after Gettysburg

Dead soldiers lie on the battlefield at Gettysburg in July of 1863. Corbis via Getty Images Over the July Fourth long weekend, people will pour into the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to commemorate the 160th anniversary of one of the deadliest battles in U.S. history. The three-day battle left over 50,000 Union and Confederate soldiers dead, wounded or missing and cemented Gettysburg’s place in American history as the turning point of the Civil War. A few months after the battle, President Abraham Lincoln visited the town for the dedication of Soldiers’ National Cemetery. There, he delivered his famed Gettysburg

Americans in former Confederate states more likely to say violent protest against government is justified, 160 years after Gettysburg
Political

Supreme Court says state lawmakers can't just ignore state law when drawing voting districts or choosing presidential electors

North Carolina’s election districts have been under debate and review for years. AP Photo/Gerry Broome For months, legislators, legal scholars and people simply interested in democracy and elections were fixated on a case before the Supreme Court, Moore v. Harper. Those following the case, which asked the justices to rule on the “independent state legislature doctrine,” have held their collective breath awaiting the outcome, which could have changed fundamental aspects of U.S. elections and politics. Henry L. Chambers Jr., a law professor at the University of Richmond, wrote earlier for The Conversation about the case, saying “Adoption of a strong

Supreme Court says state lawmakers can't just ignore state law when drawing voting districts or choosing presidential electors
Political

Putin's Ukraine war keeps yielding dividends -- but not for him

Members of the Wagner Group sit atop a tank in a street in the city of Rostov-on-Don, on June 24, 2023. Roman Romokhov/AFP via Getty Images On June 23, 2023, 16 months into Russia’s war with Ukraine, Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Russia’s now disbanded potent mercenary fighting force and a protégé of Russian President Vladimir, turned his troops on the Russian military and, ostensibly, the Kremlin itself. Within 24 hours, though, Prigozhin had aborted his march to Moscow and turned his troops around. But the damage to Putin’s strongman image and possibly his plans to subjugate Ukraine by force had

Putin's Ukraine war keeps yielding dividends -- but not for him
Political

South Korea has the lowest fertility rate in the world – and that doesn't bode well for its economy

An aging population, a tired economy. Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images Around the world, nations are looking at the prospect of shrinking, aging populations – but none more so than South Korea. Over the last 60 years, South Korea has undergone the most rapid fertility decline in recorded human history. In 1960, the nation’s total fertility rate – the number of children, on average, that a woman has during her reproductive years – stood at just under six children per woman. In 2022, that figure was 0.78. South Korea is the only country in the world to register a fertility

South Korea has the lowest fertility rate in the world – and that doesn't bode well for its economy
Political

Supreme Court has not committed to a major innovation in transparency it started during the pandemic

After the Supreme Court began livestreaming its oral arguments in 2020, the public could listen in real time to the justices as they interact with attorneys. Robert Alexander/Getty Images When the Supreme Court began livestreaming audio of oral arguments in May 2020, it was because the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the justices from convening in person. But since then, even as pandemic-era restrictions eased, the Supreme Court has continued livestreaming, uninterrupted. The Supreme Court initially approved the practice on a month-by-month basis, then three months at a time, and most recently for an entire term, stretching from October 2022 through April

Supreme Court has not committed to a major innovation in transparency it started during the pandemic
Political

Supreme Court is not committed to a major innovation in transparency it started during the pandemic

After the Supreme Court began livestreaming its oral arguments in 2020, the public could listen in real time to the justices as they interact with attorneys. Robert Alexander/Getty Images When the Supreme Court began livestreaming audio of oral arguments in May 2020, it was because the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the justices from convening in person. But since then, even as pandemic-era restrictions eased, the Supreme Court has continued livestreaming, uninterrupted. The Supreme Court initially approved the practice on a month-by-month basis, then three months at a time, and most recently for an entire term, stretching from October 2022 through April

Supreme Court is not committed to a major innovation in transparency it started during the pandemic
Political

The Supreme Court's biggest decisions are coming. Here's what they could say.

The Supreme Court is getting ready to decide some of its biggest cases of the term. The high court has 10 opinions left to release over the next week before the justices begin their summer break. As is typical, the last opinions to be released cover some of the most contentious issues the court has wrestled with this term including affirmative action, student loans and gay rights. Here’s a look at some of the cases the court has left to decide from the term that began back in October: AFFIRMATIVE ACTION The survival of affirmative action in

The Supreme Court's biggest decisions are coming. Here's what they could say.
Political

With abortion rights on the line, an August special election has Ohio election offices scrambling

A high-stakes August special election with national political implications is upending local election offices across Ohio, as already stressed election workers are suddenly faced with a mountain of logistical challenges after Republican lawmakers backtracked on their own law. Officials have to lure poll workers away from vacations, relocate polling places booked for summer weddings, maintenance or other events, and repeatedly retest ballot language after the state’s high court found errors. “It’s disheartening. It’s exhausting,” said Michelle Wilcox, a Democrat who is the director of elections in tiny Auglaize County in northwest Ohio. “When you’re overworked, haven’t

With abortion rights on the line, an August special election has Ohio election offices scrambling
Political

Wagner's mutiny punctured Putin's 'strongman' image and exposed cracks in his rule

Open defiance in Rostov-on-Don. Feodor Larin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Less than 24 hours after the mutiny began, it was over. As the rebelling Wagner column bore down on Moscow, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko brokered a deal under which Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to drop criminal charges against the mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and allow him to seek asylum in Belarus. The departing Wagner troops were given a heroes’ send-off by some residents of Rostov-on-Don – the southern Russian town they had taken control over without firing shot earlier in the day. Prigozhin gambled and lost. But he lives

Wagner's mutiny punctured Putin's 'strongman' image and exposed cracks in his rule
Political

In post-Roe era, House Republicans begin quiet push for new restrictions on abortion access

When the Supreme Court issued its abortion ruling last June overturning Roe v. Wade, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said “our work is far from done.” He didn’t say what might come next. A year later later, McCarthy is the speaker, Republicans are in the majority and the blanks are beginning to be filled in. In a flurry of little-noticed legislative action, GOP lawmakers are pushing abortion policy changes, trying to build on the work of activists whose strategy successfully elevated their fight to the nation’s highest court. In one government funding bill after another, Republicans are

In post-Roe era, House Republicans begin quiet push for new restrictions on abortion access
Political

Trump is returning to Michigan with hopes of repeating the battleground success he found in 2016

Donald Trump is set to appear in Michigan on Sunday as he looks to reclaim territory that helped propel him to the White House but slipped from his grasp four years later. Campaigning for a return to the presidency while facing a federal indictment for allegedly mishandling classified documents, Trump will speak in suburban Detroit, where he lost ground between 2016 and 2020 and would need to win it back if he becomes the 2024 Republican nominee. He would have to reverse the recent trend in Michigan that has seen Democrats make some of their biggest

Trump is returning to Michigan with hopes of repeating the battleground success he found in 2016
Political

GOP state legislatures seek greater control over state and local election offices

Lawmakers in several Republican-led states have been looking to exert more authority over state and local election offices, claiming new powers that Democrats warn could be used to target left-leaning counties in future elections. The moves range from requiring legislative approval of court settlements in election-related lawsuits to creating paths for taking over local election offices. In North Carolina, a Republican proposal working its way through the General Assembly would change the composition of state and county election boards and give lawmakers sole authority to appoint board members. Republican lawmakers in Texas recently approved legislation that not

GOP state legislatures seek greater control over state and local election offices
Political

As fuel taxes plummet, states weigh charging by the mile instead of the tank

Evan Burroughs has spent eight years touting the virtues of an Oregon pilot program charging motorists by the distance their vehicle travels rather than the gas it guzzles, yet his own mother still hasn’t bought in. Margaret Burroughs, 85, said she has no intention of inserting a tracking device on her Nissan Murano to record the miles she drives to get groceries or attend needlepoint meetings. She figures it’s far less hassle to just pay at the pump, as Americans have done for more than a century. “It’s probably a good thing, but on top of

As fuel taxes plummet, states weigh charging by the mile instead of the tank
Political

Trump says US government has 'vital role' opposing abortion, won't say if he backs national ban

Former President Donald Trump said the federal government should play a “vital role” opposing abortion but again failed to provide specifics on what national restrictions he would support if elected to the White House again. Trump’s remarks to a group of influential evangelicals Saturday on the anniversary of the Supreme Court overturning the national right to an abortion stood in contrast to that of his former vice president and 2024 rival Mike Pence. Pence, speaking at the same conference a day earlier, challenged every GOP presidential candidate to support the passage of a national ban on abortions

Trump says US government has 'vital role' opposing abortion, won't say if he backs national ban
Political

Packages from China are surging into the U.S. Lawmakers wonder if an $800 exemption was a mistake

Conservatives anxious to counter America’s leading economic adversary have set their sights on a top trade priority for labor unions and progressives: cracking down on the deluge of duty-free packages coming in from China. The changing political dynamic could have major ramifications for e-commerce businesses and consumers importing products from China valued at less than $800. It also could add to the growing tensions between the countries. Under current U.S. law, most imports valued at less than $800 enter duty-free into the United States as long as they are packaged and addressed to individual buyers. It’s referred

Packages from China are surging into the U.S. Lawmakers wonder if an $800 exemption was a mistake
Political

'Rage giving' prompted by the end of Roe has dropped off, abortion access groups say

The ” rage giving ” did not last. Abortion access groups who received a windfall of donations following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade one year ago say those emergency grants have ended and individual and foundation giving has dropped off. After the Dobbs decision, some major funders of abortion access also have ended or shifted funding from organizations working in states where abortion is now banned, said Naa Amissah-Hammond, senior director of grantmaking with Groundswell Fund, which funds grassroots groups organizing for reproductive justice. Women’s health and foster care nonprofits, who expected increased demand in areas where

'Rage giving' prompted by the end of Roe has dropped off, abortion access groups say
Political

Kansas' attorney general is moving to block trans people from changing their birth certificates

Transgender people born in Kansas could be prevented from changing their birth certificates to reflect their gender identities if the state’s conservative Republican attorney is successful with a legal move he launched late Friday. Attorney General Kris Kobach filed a request in federal court asking a judge to end a requirement for Kansas to allow transgender people to change their birth certificates. U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree imposed the requirement in 2019 to settle a lawsuit filed by four transgender Kansas residents against three state health department officials over a policy that critics said prevented transgender

Kansas' attorney general is moving to block trans people from changing their birth certificates
Political

Justice Department proposes December trial date for Trump in classified documents case

The Justice Department asked a judge on Friday night to postpone until December the criminal trial of former President Donald Trump for retaining classified documents. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon earlier this week set an initial trial date of Aug. 14 for Trump, who faces 37 felony counts accusing him of illegally hoarding classified documents and obstructing Justice Department efforts to get them back. Prosecutors with special counsel Jack Smith’s team asked Cannon to reschedule the trial for Dec. 11. They said the delay was necessary because the case involves classified information and will require Trump’s lawyers

Justice Department proposes December trial date for Trump in classified documents case
Political

US intelligence report on COVID-19 origins rejects some points raised by lab leak theory proponents

U.S. officials released an intelligence report Friday that rejected some points raised by those who argue COVID-19 leaked from a Chinese lab, instead reiterating that American spy agencies remain divided over how the pandemic began. The report was issued at the behest of Congress, which in March passed a bill giving U.S. intelligence 90 days to declassify intelligence related to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Intelligence officials under President Joe Biden have been pushed by lawmakers to release more material about the origins of COVID-19. But they have repeatedly argued China’s official obstruction of independent reviews has

US intelligence report on COVID-19 origins rejects some points raised by lab leak theory proponents
Political

1st US charges against China-based companies accused of selling fentanyl chemicals filed

The Justice Department has for the first time charged China-based companies and employees with supplying chemicals needed to make fentanyl, a primary driver of an overdose crisis gripping the United States, top officials said Friday. The companies openly advertised the chemicals on social media platforms and shipped them surreptitiously to buyers, even adding molecules to evade testing, said Attorney General Merrick Garland. “We are targeting every step of the movement and manufacturing sale of fentanyl, from start to finish,” Garland said. Two of the eight people charged have been arrested in the Drug Enforcement Administration investigation into

1st US charges against China-based companies accused of selling fentanyl chemicals filed
Political

Speaker McCarthy supports expunging Trump's impeachments over Ukraine and Jan. 6

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Friday he supports the idea of expunging the two impeachments of Donald Trump as hard-right Republican allies of the former president introduce a pair of proposals to declare it as though the historic charges never happened. McCarthy told reporters that he agrees with Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Elise Stefanik who want to erase the charges against Trump from the former president’s impeachments of 2019 and 2021. “I think it is appropriate,” said McCarthy, the Republican from California. “Just as I thought before — that you should expunge it, because it never

Speaker McCarthy supports expunging Trump's impeachments over Ukraine and Jan. 6
Political

Attorney general denies whistleblower claims of interference in Hunter Biden investigation

Attorney General Merrick Garland pushed back Friday against claims from IRS whistleblowers that the Justice Department interfered with the investigation into Hunter Biden, saying more broadly that attacks on the department’s independence are corrosive. The Republican-led House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday released a transcript of testimony from Gary Shapley, an IRS official who, among other things, claimed that Garland had denied a request from U.S. Attorney David Weiss of Delaware to be appointed special counsel. That designation would have would have given Weiss the same status as the prosecutor leading the investigation into former President

Attorney general denies whistleblower claims of interference in Hunter Biden investigation
Political

A year after Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, Black women still struggle for access to reproductive health care

House Democrats join an abortion-rights protest on July 19, 2022, in Washington, D.C. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images It’s been a year since the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and the predictions by several experts that the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade would lead individual states to ban abortions have come true. Also true has been the impact of those bans and restrictions on the reproductive health disparities between Black and white women. As a scholar who studies reproductive policy, politics and social justice movements, I have always been aware

A year after Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, Black women still struggle for access to reproductive health care
Political

Defense industry dollars flowed to a Democratic senator after he gained a key role on spending

As Democrat Jon Tester headed for a surprise victory in his 2006 U.S. Senate race, he attacked his incumbent Montana Republican rival’s close ties to lobbyists and committed himself to a rigorous ethics standard. Now as he looks to win a fourth term in a race that could decide control of the Senate, Tester is embracing a practice he once held against his opponent: taking contributions from lobbyists and executives of corporations while helping craft a government spending package that directs billions of dollars. After Tester became chair of the Senate Defense Appropriations subcommittee in 2021, he

Defense industry dollars flowed to a Democratic senator after he gained a key role on spending

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