Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
LONDON/BUDAPEST Britain’s vote to leave the European Union fired up populist eurosceptic parties across the continent on Friday, giving fresh voice to their calls to leave the bloc or its euro currency. Right-wing and anti-immigrant parties in the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and France demanded referendums on membership of the union, while Italy’s 5-Star movement…
Lending a new dimension to the phrase “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” recently fired Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski has joined CNN as a political commentator. Presumably now if he wants to grab a reporter so hard that she’s left with bruises on her arm, his case will be handled by CNN’s…
cxenseparse_start Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (Photo: Craig Ruttle, AP) Bernie Sanders may not be quite ready to formally end his Democratic presidential bid, but he says he will vote for Hillary Clinton in November. Speaking on MSNBC Friday morning, he was asked if he planned to vote for Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, in the fall…
Tire drag tracks, by Richard Misrach. Near Calexico, California, 2014. To track migrants, Border Patrol agents use an old Native American tracking technique called “sign cutting” or “cutting for sign.” They drag tires behind trucks to smooth out the dirt and desert sand, making it easy to see footprints or other signs of life….
Congressional Democrats took the unprecedented step of conducting an actual sit-in on the floor of the House of Representatives on Wednesday, demanding that Republican leaders allow votes on gun control legislation. But this unusually bold and moving tactic was undercut by the fact that its chief goal is a political gimmick that would do little to stop…
A news release Wednesday publicizing a campaign by the National Rifle Association and Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. to give away free guns in poor communities is an elaborate hoax. A website and video promised to give away a Smith & Wesson SWHC, +2.91% gun for each one purchased beginning July 4, with the ability…
Nancy Pelosi joined her colleagues on the House floor early Wednesday and promptly decried Republican leaders for turning off the microphones and shutting down access to the galleries during the Democrats’ sit-in protesting the lack of a vote on gun-control legislation. “Mr. Speaker, turn on this microphone,” she demanded. The Republican majority had gaveled the…
Sit-ins and protests on the floor of Congress are rare but do occur from time to time. Over the past few decades, both parties have engaged in them. Republicans mounted a floor protest over energy legislation on August 1, 2008. After then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi adjourned the House, the bill—which would, in part, lift a federal…
Image: Sarah Jeong There’s a sit-in right now in the House of Representatives over gun control. Republicans blocked a vote over the “no fly, no buy” bill (preventing terror suspects on the no-fly list from buying guns) and Democrats are up in arms about it. This is a difficult topic. Forty-nine people were killed at…
This photo provided by Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, shows Democratic members of Congress, including Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. (center), and Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-Conn., as they participate in a sit-down protest seeking a vote on gun control measures. Rep. Chellie Pingree/AP hide caption toggle caption Rep. Chellie Pingree/AP This photo provided by Rep….