By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — While every federal agency was going through contingency plans preparing for a catastrophic government shutdown, including National Park Service rangers getting ready to close most national parks and campgrounds at the beginning of the busy Autumn color season, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy failed to obtain an agreement from…
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of the Interior held a press conference on Thursday afternoon to inform the press and the people about what they can expect to happen if and when Congress fails to compromise to keep the United States government open and running and forces a massive federal government shutdown…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — With all the clouds of gloom and doom rocking the world, there are still days when a little light shines through with portents that could hint at a chance of better days to come. It’s a long shot, but I think we should cling…
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Trade Commission and 17 states filed a lawsuit against the online retailer Amazon started by Jeff Bezos on Tuesday, setting up a long-awaited antitrust fight with the e-commerce giant that could alter the way Americans shop for everything from toilet paper to electronics. Maryland Attorney General Anthony…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — So I heard on CBS radio while riding around in a large campground near the nation’s capital in a Ford Escape hybrid that Rupert Murdoch announced his retirement from News Corp at the age of 92. By the time I got back to the…
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — While the American public appears to be divided on political issues these days and sometimes disagree on the role of government, there is one federal program most people love no matter what political party they vote for at election time: National Parks. Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns called this “America’s…
By Jennifer Shutt – Maryland Matters – WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than 3.5 million federal employees and military personnel — many in the Washington, D.C., area but also scattered across the states and around the globe — are bracing for another partial government shutdown, as U.S. House Republicans struggle to produce a short-term plan to…
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. – While every news organization in the land was covering it and Democrats all over social media were watching cable TV talk shows and complaining about House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio’s grilling of Attorney General Merrick Garland over Hunter Biden’s laptop, a nothing burger of a story…
Guest Column – By Thom Hartmann – The Republican Party is increasingly clear about its goal: Make America Russia, or at least Russia’s mini-me, Hungary. They are openly embracing a modern, westernized, Christian white supremacy-based version of classic fascism. And the MAGAT Republicans have a three-step process to bring it about that they’re already putting…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Let’s face it, there are times in this crazy world and this funny business when the only recourse in the face of imminent disaster is to call up the ghost of Hunter S. Thompson, the doctor of Gonzo Journalism. Now is such a time,…
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — So let’s say for the sake of argument that you’re interested in getting involved to help “save the world” or save the planet, or at least help try to keep life livable for humans on Earth, and at the same time, you have an interest in saving some…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — After spending some time this week thinking about the world of 1687, when Sir Isaac Newton and the Royal Society of London published Principia Mathematica — with a little MAGA Republican distraction thrown in — I’ve stumbled on to another epiphany. Newton’s Laws Work:…
“I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies but not the madness of people.” ― Sir Isaac Newton The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sitting here in front of a big screen hooked up to the internet on a late summer morning and wondering what to say about a nagging…
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — A major fall bird migration will begin on the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 12, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology bird cast. “Bird migration forecasts show predicted nocturnal migration 3 hours after local sunset,” they say in an email blast. Their forecasts come from models trained on the…
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new report claims that President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, billed as “the largest climate investment ever,” spurs major carbon dioxide emission reductions from the electricity sector and across the economy in the United States. The report, released Tuesday by the Environmental Protection Agency, finds that the Inflation Reduction…
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — It’s so hot in the middle of the day that the birds are not even moving around in the windless woods. The only thing moving are the yellow jackets and European hornets, looking for other bees to kill, the occasional blue-tailed lizard, going after the flies too hot…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — I remember the first time I heard a presentation on the need to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It was 1989, and an activist had traveled all the way from Alaska to Mobile,…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — A bland joint statement from a group of presidential centers made national news on Thursday warning about a threat to the future of democracy even though it overwhelmingly avoids identifying the real problem or recommending any solutions. The New York Times produced a story…
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The former national chairman of the right-wing, pro-Trump Proud Boys organization was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison this week for seditious conspiracy and other charges related to the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions disrupted a joint session of Congress in the process…
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two former leaders of the right-wing, pro-Trump Proud Boys organization have been sentenced on multiple felony charges, including terrorism, related to their roles in the attack of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, for actions that disrupted a joint session of Congress in the process of certifying the…
