Progressive News Feeds

Over the objections of their own legal experts, right-wing media continue to argue the alleged Boston bomber should be denied constitutional rights unlike the hundreds of terrorists before him who have been successfully tried and convicted. Prominent right-wing media figures have advocated a wide range of unconstitutional treatment for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old U.S. citizen accused of complicity in the Boston marathon bombing and subsequent murder of a police officer.

Tags: desktop, economy, foreign-policy, law-school, media, media matters, slate, the nation, video

The National Rifle Association is distorting a survey that experts say already uses questionable methology to claim that the vast majority of police don’t believe background checks will reduce violent crime. The  Washington Post’s  website is currently displaying an NRA ad which states, “80% of police say background checks will have no effect on violent crime.” But the  poll in question , conducted by the law enforcement news portal PoliceOne, does not ask respondents whether they believe background checks will have an effect on violent crime. As Slate’s William Saletan  has noted , the only question in the survey that produced results similar to the ones the NRA cited was the question, “Do you think that a federal law prohibiting private, non-dealer transfers of firearms between individuals would reduce violent crime?” The bipartisan background check amendment currently under discussion in the Senate would not impact private, non-dealer transfers; it would only require background checks for commercial sales

Tags: america, desktop, discrimination, elections, health, michigan, science, security, slate, the nation, video

Early Thursday morning, gun violence survivors and families of victims finally finished reading the names of all the people who have been killed by guns since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The list of over 3300 people took 12 hours to read. The Newtown Action Alliance organized a reading at Edmond Town Hall in Newtown while other groups read outside the Capitol as a “filibuster” of the filibuster by 13 pro-gun senators that was finally defeated Thursday morning.

Tags: archives, economy, facebook, guns, media, politics, security, slate, violence, virginia

Fox News hyped a dubious story by Townhall news editor Katie Pavlich to stoke fears that a surge of immigrants has made the border less safe. Pavlich, a Fox News contributor , published a story using anecdotal remarks from an unnamed Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agent and CBP internal data to claim that non-citizens are attempting to cross the southern border in large numbers: As the immigration reform Gang of Eight inside the Beltway prepares to announce a deal later this week, claiming border security will come before a path to citizenship for millions of illegals, Border Patrol agents have seen illegal border crossings double and warn the cutting of agent work hours will only result in less border security, not more. “We’ve seen the number of illegal aliens double, maybe even triple since amnesty talk started happening,” an agent told Townhall, who asked to remain unnamed due to fears of retaliation within Customs and Border Protection [CBP], something he said is common.

Tags: articles, author, border-patrol, breaking news, desktop, education, elections, health, science, security, slate, war

Dr. Ben Carson, who recently attempted to walk back his controversial comments about marriage equality, is scheduled to give the keynote address at a banquet hosted by a notorious anti-gay hate group this fall. Carson has spent the last several days doing  damage control  after he  compared  same-sex relationships to bestiality and pedophilia on Fox News’  Hannity , saying “marriage is between a man and a woman …

Tags: author, church, cnn, education, elections, facebook, feeds, network, science, slate

Rush Limbaugh falsely claimed President Obama’s nominee for Secretary of Labor Tom Perez “made the call not to prosecute the New Black Panthers,” a case that was concluded before Perez ever joined the Department. President Obama nominated Perez on Monday to head the Labor Department on Monday.

Tags: civil-liberties, elections, environment, foreign-policy, media matters, president, science, slate, video, war

Rush Limbaugh slammed the Obama administration for releasing some detained undocumented immigrants, claiming the decision was a “political ploy” and an “illegal order.” In fact, undocumented immigrants who pose little threat to public safety have routinely been released into a supervised program as they await deportation since at least 2002, when Congress authorized the use of such programs to facilitate the deportation process. On February 25, citing budgetary concerns, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that it had released some undocumented immigrants from detention facilities and into a supervised release program but that deportation proceedings against them would continue

Tags: america, congress, environment, foreign policy, government, slate, the nation, war, white house

News outlets have largely ignored the legal barriers that the Supreme Court has erected in between injured consumers and access to compensation - including a current case that could give big business the power to place themselves beyond the reach of federal laws by preventing consumers and small businesses from bringing class action lawsuits. That’s surprising, considering the extensive media coverage of the story of 3,000 passengers on Carnival Cruise Line’s Triumph who spent five days floating in the Gulf of Mexico with no power or plumbing, and finally disembarked  in Mobile, Alabama .  On February 20, attorneys for the passengers filed  a class-action lawsuit  against Carnival, claiming that the cruise line acted negligently by sending the Triumph to sea when they knew the ship had mechanical problems.   It was the second major crisis  on a Carnival ship in a year.  Thanks to a series of Supreme Court cases  limiting class actions  and  upholding arbitration agreements , those passengers are facing an uphill climb with their lawsuit.   Carnival’s ticket contract  itself contains an arbitration clause requiring customers to waive their right to bring claims against Carnival in court.  It also includes a “class-action waiver” that states:  This contract provides for the exclusive resolution of disputes through individual legal action on guest’s own behalf instead of through any class action.” If enforced, a class-action waiver creates a David and Goliath dynamic.  As legal expert Dahlia Lithwick has  explained , class actions often level the playing field between individual claimants and big defendants such as employers.  The Supreme Court has made it increasingly difficult to pursue class actions.  For example in  Wal-Mart v.

Tags: affordable care act, articles, author, breaking news, credit-cards, economy, foreign policy, health, marriage, media matters, slate

Fox News figures are reviving the myth that the Head Start education program is a failure, in light of reports that the program may lose funding. In fact, research shows the program benefits disadvantaged children in that it has a positive impact both early and later on in their lives. Head Start Program May Lose Millions In Funding From Automatic Government Cuts CNNMoney: “Come March 1, Head Start Stands To Lose More Than $400 Million Of Its Nationwide Funding.” CNNMoney reported that Head Start could lose more than $400 million of its nationwide funding if automatic spending cuts scheduled for March 1 take effect: Come March 1, Head Start stands to lose more than $400 million of its nationwide funding.

Tags: desktop, education, global-warming, health, nutrition, science, slate, the nation, war

If you want to appreciate how vast the digital divide is that historically separates conservative failures and liberal accomplishments online, and if you want to add some context to the recent New York Times Magazine feature article on how Republicans’ chronic online shortcomings dim the party’s electoral chances, just look at how the two camps were marking their time in recent days. Working with Republicans on Capitol Hill trying to block Chuck Hagel’s nomination to become Secretary of Defense, Breitbart’s Ben Shapiro recently posted a report suggesting Hagel had allegedly received “foreign funding” over the years from a terrorist-friendly group called Friends of Hamas, but that the payments were being kept secret

Tags: desktop, elections, environment, feeds, friends, huffington-post, science, slate, war