Will Jim Jordan bully his way to the speakership?

Jordan once again wants something that a whole lot of his colleagues don’t want to give him. As he makes a final push for the speakership, he faces his own choice: Does he stick with his recent transformation into a team player? Or does he revert back to the tough tactics he built his reputation on?

Politico

The Republican House Speaker Doom Loop

The GOP can’t evade the structural realities that make it so hard to elect a speaker—and which will make it impossible for that new speaker to govern.

The New Republic

Matthew Shepard’s Murder Remembered 25 Years Later With a Renewed Call to Fight Anti-LGBTQ+ Hate

The LGBTQ+ community has made great progress in those 25 years. Marriage equality is the law of the land, LGBTQ+ people can serve in the military without having to hide their identity, and coming out is occurring at younger ages than ever. But much hasn’t changed, and progress is being eroded. This year has seen a record amount of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation introduced and passed in states around the nation, much of it specifically targeting transgender youth, and there remains an epidemic of violence against trans people of color.

Advocate

Keep an eye on these 5 LGBTQ+ Latinx candidates running for office this year

This year, plenty of queer Latinx candidates are up for election in both red and blue states, including incumbents seeking reelection and first-time candidates. Here are just five of the folks who will be on ballots across the country this November.

LGBTQ Nation

Alarms sound over high turnover among election workers

Threats and scrutiny often linked to false claims of voter fraud have contributed to a surge of local election officials leaving their posts in recent years. The exodus could mean understaffed and inexperienced teams are left to grapple with continued conspiracies and misinformation surrounding the election process in 2024, with some running a high-stakes presidential election for the first time.

The Hill

Republican Jeff Landry claims back Louisiana governor’s office in stunning GOP victory

Republican Jeff Landry will be Louisiana’s next governor after a stunning victory in Saturday’s primary election, deepening the GOP stronghold in the state.

“Do you love Louisiana?” Landry said from the stage at his election night party in Broussard, describing his win as a wake-up call. “This state is my family, and we are going to work to fix this state, because that’s what families do. Make no mistake about it: It was historic and it’s a clear signal the state is united.”

USA Today

‘I felt backstabbed’: Biden’s US-Mexico border wall plans elicit condemnation

Under the previous administration, Alvarez fought against plans for Donald Trump’s “wall” along the US-Mexico border designed to prevent migrants crossing into the US without permission, especially as the steel barrier would have sliced through her property, effectively ending her family’s deep ties to the land.

Suddenly, the Biden administration is forcing Alvarez to reopen a chapter in her life that she thought was closed for good after Trump never finished his project and a lawsuit seeking to seize her property was dropped.

“I felt backstabbed … Biden did say ‘not another foot’,” Alvarez said, as she sat in her yard amid rural tranquility, where birds were singing and fish occasionally jumped out of the water.

Oftentimes, though, the sounds of nature are interrupted by the whirring blades of low-flying government helicopters patrolling the river, which marks the international boundary.

The Guardian

Clock Is Ticking for the Black Residents of Flood-Prone Southwest Philadelphia

Across the United States, low-lying communities face similar hydrological challenges: how to protect people and property from rising seas and increased inland flooding. Many of these places are low-income communities of color. But low-lying Eastwick, with a majority Black population and a history of pollution, has long-standing socioeconomic challenges that make adaptation especially urgent and difficult.

Mother Jones

‘An incredible find’: Florida road crews discover 19th-century boat buried in St. Augustine

Construction workers in northeast Florida have unearthed a piece of 19th-century history buried beneath the oldest city in the United States.

Florida Department of Transportation crews were digging as part of an ongoing drainage improvement project in downtown St. Augustine on October 5 when they discovered a nearly intact vessel hidden in the dirt, the department said in a news release.

CNN

California to pay community college tuition for some Mexican residents near border

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law Friday to make low-income Mexican residents living near the border eligible for in-state tuition rates at certain community colleges.

The legislation applies to low-income Mexicans who live within 45 miles of the California-Mexico border and want to attend a participating community college in Southern California. It is a pilot program that will launch next year and run until 2029.

CBS News

Wisconsin Republicans advance trans sports & gender-affirming care bans

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) has vowed to veto any legislation targeting transgender people’s rights. Last week, he made a rare appearance at the state legislature, where he reaffirmed that pledge to opponents of the three bills.

“You’ve got my support on all of these. We’re gonna veto every single one of them,” Evers said. “I know you’re here because you’re pissed off and you want to stop it, and you will stop it, and I’ll help you stop it.”

LGBTQ Nation

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas thinks the press has too much freedom

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wants the high court to reconsider a landmark ruling in a move that could have devastating impacts on the press and ordinary citizens.

In the New York Times v. Sullivan case, the court ruled that in a defamation lawsuit, where a media outlet publishes a defamatory statement about a public official, the public official would have to prove “actual malice.” This means that the public official would have to show that the media outlet knew that the published statement was false or the media outlet acted recklessly when it decided to publish inaccurate information.  

Earlier this week, Thomas revived his argument that the “actual malice” standard gives members of the press immunity to publish whatever they want because proving the standard is the hardest element to overcome in a defamation case. The Supreme Court should consider the standard, established in 1964, when brought “in an appropriate case,” Thomas wrote.

“I continue to adhere to my view that we should reconsider the actual-malice standard,” he said.

The Grio

Biden administration authorizes nonessential personnel to depart Israel, West Bank

The Biden administration released an updated travel advisory for Israel, the West Bank and Gaza on Saturday as the ongoing conflict in the region persists.

The State Department authorized the departure of all “non-emergency U.S. government personnel and eligible family members for U.S. Embassy Jerusalem and U.S. Branch Office Tel Aviv.”

The Hill

Black Latinx Actors Have Been Devalued by Hollywood. Where Do We Go From Here?

In 2021, after Anya Taylor-Joy was awarded a Golden Globe for best actress in a limited series, Variety ran an article that claimed “Argentinian Taylor-Joy is the first woman of color to win this category since Queen Latifah in 2008 and only the fifth woman of color to win overall since 1982, when the category was introduced.” Ironically, in a 2018 interview with Vulture, Taylor-Joy acknowledged that yes, she is “Latina,” and also “really white and blonde.” After public outrage about Taylor-Joy being identified as a woman of color, Variety modified its statement to “Taylor-Joy is the first Latina to win in this category.” The publication’s narrative about Taylor-Joy revealed multiple truths about race and ethnicity that, unfortunately, are still true two years later: Race is unstable, Latinidad is fungible, and when there is Latinx representation in Hollywood, that representation tends to be white or white adjacent.

Teen Vogue

White House seeks weapons package for Israel amid ‘real risk of escalation’

Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan toured the US Sunday morning shows to sell White House policy on the conflict between Israel and Hamas as Israeli forces massed on the border ahead of an expected ground incursion into Gaza amid a deepening humanitarian crisis there and fears over the conflict spreading.

The Guardian

Bush’s Cake and FOIA Red Tape: A Whimsical Look at a Serious Transparency Issue

The practice of actually using the laws intended to promote transparency illustrates just how broken the process of legal disclosure can be.

WhoWhatWhy

‘Revolution is never comfortable’: Iowa Black Caucus commemorates MLK’s Nobel Prize

The Iowa Democratic Party Black Caucus hosted an event Saturday to celebrate the anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s reception of the Nobel Peace Prize.

On Oct. 14, 1964, King was given the Nobel Peace Prize “for his non-violent struggle for civil rights for the Afro-American population,” according to the Nobel Prize’s website. Saturday’s event also celebrated his civil rights and social justice legacy.

Des Moines Register

Booze, beads and art among unclaimed gifts lavished upon billionaire Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has so many fans and friends that he receives a $30 gift at the rate of one every three days, but because of his job he accepts none of them, and rarely even sees them.

AP News

Biden pushes for Gaza humanitarian corridor in Netanyahu, Abbas talks

At a Human Rights Campaign National Dinner in Washington, Biden said that these “innocent Palestinians are being used as human shields.”

Jerusalem Post

Blinken returning to Israel to try to limit death toll from an invasion of Gaza

A last-ditch attempt to reduce the impact of a potentially catastrophic all-out Israeli land assault on Gaza will be made by the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, amid fears that the already daunting Palestinian death toll will rise and provoke an intervention by Iran or its proxies.

The Guardian

Nearly 600 Americans stuck in Gaza amid Egypt talks over Rafah, aid

Egyptian officials said they will not allow foreigners to exit Gaza via the Rafah border crossing until an agreement on aid deliveries is reached, according to reports.

Al-Monitor

‘Drag Race México’ fan favorite has some surprising advice for gringos

There are so many international Drag Race spinoffs now that it’s impossible to name them all in one breath. Still, Drag Race México managed to make its own mark on the franchise after serving up glamour, drama, and Mexican heritage in its debut season that finished in early September. Co-hosted by Drag Race stalwart Valentina and Drag Race France standout Lolita Banana, the show featured a roster of stunning queens while entertaining many Drag Race diehards.

GayCities

Photos: Afghanistan hit by another earthquake in Herat region

The western province of Herat in Afghanistan has been hit with a magnitude 6.3 earthquake – its third since powerful quakes on October 7 killed more than 2,000 people.

AlJazeera

‘We’re paying for a war we never wanted’, say Palestinian refugees

“We are only civilians. We’re always the ones to pay the price for every aggression.”

Telegraph

Indigenous Australians call for a week of silence after historic referendum fails

Australian Indigenous leaders are calling for a week of silence after a referendum to recognize Indigenous people in the constitution failed.

Every state and mainland territory except the Australian Capital Territory rejected the measure to enshrine an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, an advisory body, in the constitution. More than 60 percent of voters opposed the measure, but it was largely more popular among Indigenous Australians. 

The Hill

Why So Many Palestinians Wouldn’t Flee Gaza Even If They Could

Even as the borders close and the siege tightens, most of the Palestinians also deeply fear leaving, convinced that (like their forebears) they’ll never return.

Worldcrunch

Ecuador chooses president during wave of violence

Ecuadoreans are voting in the run-off of a presidential election that has been overshadowed by a crime wave which has turned the country into one of the most violent in the region.

BBC

Hezbollah renews shelling of Israeli posts near Lebanese border

The pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement renewed its attacks on Israeli posts close to the Lebanese border on Sunday, the group said in a statement.

DPA

Sahel: Military regimes under pressure to succeed

Life in Bamako, the capital of Mali, went on as usual this Friday. That is, except for the increased military presence on the Avenue de l’Indépendance amid the palpable relief that things didn’t turn out as some had feared.

Deutsche Welle

What’s Happening In Israel and Gaza, After Hamas Attacks

As of this writing, at least 1,799 Palestinians and 1,300 Israelis have been killed, according to The New York Times. The White House has said at least 27 American citizens have been killed in the attacks, according to The Hill.

Teen Vogue

Israel resumes its supply of water to southern Gaza

The decision to once again, partially, resume supply of water to the Palestinian enclave was was in line with Israeli policy on Gaza, the energy minister noted.

Jerusalem Post

Gaza: Turkey rejects exile of Palestinians, stands with Egypt

Turkey’s foreign minister said it is important to act to stop the conflict from spreading and to re-start peace talks centred on achieving a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians.

The New Arab