China’s Censorship Dragnet Targets Critics of the Economy (www.nytimes.com)
As Beijing struggles with a slumping stock market and a collapsing real estate sector, commentary and even financial analysis it deems negative are blocked....
Under Ken Paxton, Texas’ Elite Civil Medicaid Fraud Unit Is Falling Apart (www.propublica.org)
After the chief of the attorney general’s Civil Medicaid Fraud Division was forced out last year, two-thirds of attorneys have quit the unit, leaving it at its smallest size since Paxton took office....
Judge dismisses Disney’s lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his allies | CNN Business (www.cnn.com)
Patagonia’s Profits Are Funding Conservation — and Politics (www.nytimes.com)
$71 million of the clothing company’s earnings have been used since September 2022 to fund wildlife restoration, dam removal and Democratic groups....
Current and former DHS officials grumble about Biden's talk of shutting down the border (www.nbcnews.com)
One of the two former officials said Biden is sending a political message but not one that is based in logistical reality....
Activist who led ouster of Harvard president linked to ‘scientific racism’ journal (www.theguardian.com)
Christopher Rufo recommends a newsletter to his readers that has published several supporters of discredited genetics theory
Newly released recordings reveal what officers said after Tyre Nichols' fatal beating (www.npr.org)
As they walked away, Mills told the lieutenant he believed the parents “know more than what they are saying” and seemed suspicious because they didn’t open their screen door. Then he said, “I just hope … he just needs to make it, that’s all. He needs to make it. He ain’t looking too good.”
Utah joins 10 other states in regulating bathroom access for transgender people (apnews.com)
Utah became the latest state to regulate bathroom access for transgender people after Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed a law Tuesday that requires people to use bathrooms and locker rooms in public schools and government-owned buildings that match their sex assigned at birth....
Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce and a MAGA Meltdown (www.nytimes.com)
The fulminations surrounding the world’s biggest pop icon — and girlfriend of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce — reached the stratosphere after Kansas City made it to the Super Bowl....
Elon Musk’s X to hire 100 content moderators in wake of Taylor Swift, AI fiasco (nypost.com)
The San Francisco-based company formerly known as Twitter announced on Friday that it will build a “trust and safety center” in Austin, Texas.
Housing is now unaffordable for a record half of all U.S. renters, study finds (www.npr.org)
Police officers mock body-worn video of semi-naked woman (www.bbc.com)
Officers viewed footage showing woman’s groin without valid reason, but avoided misconduct hearings.
Indiana Lawmakers Trying to Kill Historic Suit Seeking Gun Industry Accountability (www.propublica.org)
Archived at web.archive.org/…/indiana-guns-gary-lawsuit-gunma…
Wayne LaPierre says he approved helicopter rides so NRA execs could avoid traffic while going to NASCAR races (www.nbcnews.com)
Archived at web.archive.org/…/wayne-lapierre-says-approved-he…
Migrant Caravans Are Challenging an Oppressive Border Regime (jacobin.com)
Jacobin.com
NYC Mayor Adams Loses Showdown Over 2 Criminal Justice Bills (www.nytimes.com)
Police officers will be required to record the race, age and gender of most people they stop and solitary confinement will be banned in New York City jails after the City Council overrode Mayor Eric Adams’s veto of two criminal justice bills on Tuesday....
U.S. Will Pay to Add Solar Panels to Hospitals, Schools After Disasters (www.nytimes.com)
The federal government plans to reimburse state and local governments that rebuild damaged public buildings to be more energy resilient....
‘Smoking gun proof’: fossil fuel industry knew of climate danger as early as 1954, documents show (www.theguardian.com)
Documents show industry-backed Air Pollution Foundation uncovered the severe harm climate change would wreak...
'White Lives Matter' member gets 18 years for firebombing church that planned drag events (www.nbcnews.com)
Aimenn Penny told the FBI that he would have felt better if his Molotov cocktails had burned an LGBT-friendly church to the ground.
Ohio could begin nitrogen gas executions under bill backed by state’s Republican attorney general (english.elpais.com)
France's 90-day visa hell as Brits forced to sell their homes over EU rules (www.express.co.uk)
Non-EU citizens can only spend a total of 90 days over an 180-day period in the whole of the European Union.
After 43 years wrongfully imprisoned and less than 5 years free, Clifford Williams dies (www.firstcoastnews.com)
Archived at ghostarchive.org/archive/TgPzL
Elon Musk cannot keep Tesla pay package worth more than $55 billion, judge rules (apnews.com)
Massachusetts state troopers arrested for taking bribes to pass commercial drivers on test (apnews.com)
Two current and two former Massachusetts State Police troopers were among six people charged Tuesday in a scheme to allegedly take bribes including a new snowblower and driveway in exchange for giving passing scores on commercial driving tests, the U.S. attorney’s office said....
House Panel Approves Impeachment Charges Against Mayorkas (www.nytimes.com)
The House Homeland Security Committee approved two articles of impeachment early Wednesday against Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, over his handling of the southwestern border, as Republicans raced forward with a partisan indictment of President Biden’s immigration policies....
