Hopefully a lot of you did your civic duty yesterday
Some critics of birthright citizenship say it’s a fraud issue. What does that mean?
“The question before us today is a simple one: Is American citizenship the inheritance of a nation and its people? Or is American citizenship simply a hollow legal definition without protections against fraud, abuse, and bad actors?” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said during a hearing held by the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution earlier this month.
NPR
Jury Finds Instagram and YouTube Liable in a Landmark Social Media Addiction Trial
After more than 40 hours of deliberation across nine days, California jurors decided Meta and YouTube were negligent in the design or operation of their platforms. The jury also decided each company’s negligence was a substantial factor in causing harm to the plaintiff, a 20-year-old woman who says she became addicted to social media as a child and that this addiction exacerbated her mental health struggles. This is the second verdict against Meta this week after a jury in New Mexico determined the company harms children’s mental health and safety, violating state law.
Mississippi Free Press
New Portland Trail Blazers Owner Played Key Role at Company Oregon Accused of Predatory Lending
Specifically, the documents show that Dundon, as the company’s CEO, was behind what regulators called an “aggressive push” at Santander Consumer USA in 2013 to waive requirements that car dealers prove borrowers had enough income to afford loans. The company would then charge more for those loans to ensure profit even in cases where borrowers ultimately failed to keep up with payments, according to internal emails and a slide deck that described findings in the multistate investigation.
ProPublica
Millions Join “No Kings” Protests in One of Largest US Rallies
Organizers say up to 8 million joined events nationwide, from San Diego to New York City.
truthout
As Washington gets an income tax, the fight to overturn it begins
Opponents of the much-debated 9.9% tax on households with incomes above $1 million a year are honing legal and electoral strategies to invalidate and repeal legislation that Gov. Bob Ferguson is expected to sign Monday.
OPB
The 40 Elections to Watch This April
We’re tracking elections across 12 states. Virginia and Wisconsin have statewide contests, school board races test conservative messaging, and parties battle to control cities, counties, and even utility boards.
Bolts
RIP Metaverse, an $80 Billion Dumpster Fire Nobody Wanted
Who could have possibly predicted this, besides everyone?
404 Media
Trump is dismantling democracy at ‘unprecedented’ speed, global report finds
“The developments in the United States are moving towards dictatorship, what the founders wanted to avoid,” said Staffan Lindberg, the V-Dem Institute’s founding director, who spent seven years in the U.S. “It’s the most rapid decline ever in the history of the United States and one of the most rapid in the world.”
NPR
Scientists may be overestimating microplastics in the environment – and the culprit is lab gloves
It seems like every day a new study finds tiny plastic particles called microplastics where they should not be: in our bodies and our food, water and air.
Yet finding and identifying microplastics is extremely challenging, especially given their small size. One microplastic can range from as large as a ladybug to as small as an eighth of a red blood cell.
In addition, it can be hard for researchers to avoid unintentionally contaminating their samples, because these plastics are practically everywhere. As a result, much of this research may be overestimating the number of microplastics.
Michigan Advance
States look to further restrict or redefine abortion, others boost reproductive care access
Our reproductive rights reporting team has been tracking these bills closely this year. Depending on the partisan makeup of a state’s legislature and other state government officials, some bills have a better chance of passing and becoming law than others.
Nebraska Examiner
The Regime Survives, Trump Has to Deal, and Iranians Are the Biggest Losers
Short of a full-scale invasion, it looks like Trump will need to deal with the Iranian regime.
The Intercept
‘Native Foods Have Sustained People for Generations’
Through the Siletz Valley School culinary program, Siletz chef Jack Strong connects students to Indigenous foodways and to careers in food.
Civil Eats
Iran Will Retaliate in the U.S. We May Not See It in Time.
Historically, the U.S. has managed to thwart Iranian operations on its soil. Now, this administration may have us unprepared.
Lawfare
A Texas City Faces Water Crisis as Big Oil and Gas Use Most of It
Corpus Christi faces a looming emergency as officials delay limits on large-scale water consumption.
Truthout
Photos: ‘No Kings’ protests across the country
In large cities and small towns across the country, millions took to the streets today in protest against the policies of President Trump and his administration.
NPR
The blurst of times
Iran’s propaganda machine trolls Trump
Trolling Trump has become a new Iranian regime pastime. And it’s not just confined to social media. Iran’s vast state media apparatus has adopted the same tone in official communications — often in English.
NPR
With Gaza Still Under Blockade, Recycling Has Become a Matter of Life and Death
As Israel continues to deny essential supplies to Gaza, Palestinians are inventing new forms of creative reuse.
truthout
Africa pours $2 billion into controversial Chinese surveillance tech
A new study shows Chinese firms and banks are behind much of the continent’s AI-powered monitoring infrastructure.
Rest of World
On Passover, some Sephardic Jews revisit not only the story of their ancestors, but also their Ladino language
For some Sephardic Jews today, holidays provide a rare opportunity to hear the now-endangered Judeo-Spanish language.
Religion News Service
Iran warns U.S. against ground invasion, as Pakistan holds diplomatic talks
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf has accused the U.S. of planning a ground invasion as part of the next stage in the Iran war, and said such an intervention would be met with force.
NPR
Israel reverses course after barring Palm Sunday Mass in Jerusalem
Following widespread backlash, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has asked “relevant authorities” early Monday to allow Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch, to enter Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday, and “hold services as he wishes.”
CNN
Iran Dismisses US Ceasefire Plan, Issues Counterproposal as Strikes Land Across the Mideast
“Iran will end the war when it decides to do so and when its own conditions are met,” Press TV quoted the official as saying. The official added Tehran will continue its “heavy blows” across the Mideast.
Mississippi Free Press
Oil rich Gulf states could face power crunch as Iran war hits energy security
While the conflict fuels a global oil price shock, the Gulf states must contend with growing threats to their own energy security, from power cuts to desalinated water loss.
Al Monitor
Pope Leo XIV rejects claims that God justifies war in Palm Sunday Mass message
“Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” Leo said. “He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.”
NPR
More Pregnant Women Around the World Die When the U.S. Has a GOP President
A new study reveals global maternal mortality increases by about 10.5%, or about 44.7 additional deaths per 100,000 live births, whenever a Republican is in power.
Jezebel
Growing up during Sri Lanka’s civil war taught me that getting along with people across divides is a virtue we can learn
A scholar who studies the virtues that help people sustain relationships across faiths and cultures describes what being a child during the war taught him about practicing pluralism in action.
Religion News Service
The Shield of the Americas does not help Latin America
The initiative driven from Washington is aimed more at exporting political alignments and excluding key actors than at building effective regional cooperation.
Latino America21
There’s a massive measles vaccine campaign in Mexico. Is the public on board?
Some infectious disease experts have lauded the effort. But there are critics. Sergio Meneses Navarro, a researcher at Mexico’s National Institute of Public Health, says it’s not targeted enough: “At the moment it’s a massive response but it’s inefficient,” he says. “We should be working in the most unprotected regions, with the most unprotected populations.”
NPR
