Month: February 2025

Alternet: “That’s according to a Tuesday article in Rolling Stone, which reported that Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) — who chair the House and Senate Banking Committees, respectively — are introducing a bill to repeal a rule capping overdraft fees implemented by former President Joe Biden’s administration. That rule capped overdraft fees at…

Off the Kuff: “Billionaire Elon Musk’s chainsaw diet for the U.S. government could shutter near 450 federal offices across Texas that do anything from assisting ailing veterans to answering questions about retirement and disability benefits, records show. The closures, which also could include as many as 25 San Antonio properties, would gut the government’s ability…

NC Newsline: “If ever there was a societal moment of desperate need for large and well-funded teams of scientists, researchers, and other experts to help guide our state and nation in this ever more complex world, it’s now. Between climate change, mass migration, artificial intelligence, the threat of new pandemics, and an ever-more competitive global…

AL Political Reporter: “Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen announced his candidacy for Lieutenant Governor in 2026, seeking the Republican nomination for the open seat. Allen, who previously served as Pike County Probate Judge and as a member of the Alabama House of Representatives, was elected as Alabama’s 54th Secretary of State in 2022 with…

Slate: “Claims about religious conscience are nothing new in debates about reproduction in the United States. Employers cited it in refusing to include contraception in employee insurance plans; anti-abortion doctors relied on conscience when trying to establish standing in a case to shut down access to mifepristone. But a new suit is foregrounding a very different kind…

NY Times: “A Democratic group promoting veterans running for office is sending $500,000 to Abigail Spanberger in support of her run in this year’s Virginia governor’s race, pointing to the former C.I.A. officer as the type of candidate who can help the Democratic Party return to power. The direct donation is the largest in the…

The 19th News: “Systemic failures have led Black women in the Mississippi Delta to have disproportionately high death rates from cervical cancer, a new report concludes. The Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative for Economic & Social Justice and Human Rights Watch collaborated on the report. It is the result of publicly available information, and interviews with 49 experts and 159…

Political Wire: “Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) is doubling down on his call to deport Somali American Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) with a fundraising email urging supporters to sign a petition to that effect, Axios reports. “It’s one of the most graphic examples to date of the kind of incivility that has gripped Congress in recent years and fueled a…

Clarion-Ledger: “OpenAI reportedly has an internal road map to get to this point, and beyond, in five levels. The first is Chatbots, what we have today; the second is Reasoners, which is AI with human level problem solving; third is Agents, which are systems able to act autonomously in line with prescribed goals (these will…

CNN: “The Louisiana Department of Health will no longer promote mass vaccination, the state’s surgeon general, Dr. Ralph Abraham, told state health workers Thursday. “The State of Louisiana and LDH have historically promoted vaccines for vaccine preventable illnesses through our parish health units, community health fairs, partnerships and media campaigns,” Abraham wrote in a memo…