Politics

A woman walks in a cemetery in Kabul, Afghanistan. Civilian casualties in the Afghan war rose 23% in the first half of this year, the United Nations reported. (Shah Marai / AFP/Getty Images) The United Nations mission in Afghanistan reported recently that U.S. airstrikes and Afghan security forces killed more civilians in the first half … Read more

Feels bad, man. Denizens of the darker corners of the Internet turned an innocent frog comic into a hate symbol of the “deplorable” alt-right.  “Pepe the Frog” first appeared in 2005 in the comic “Boy’s Life” by artist and illustrator Matt Furie. The comics depict Pepe and his anthropomorphized animal friends behaving like stereotypical post-college bros: playing … Read more

On a sun-dappled October afternoon, Ray Jinnah stood beside his Bel-Air swimming pool to address 60 guests gathered for his latest fundraiser, a 2004 affair for New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn was there, along with then-City Council President Alex Padilla. Both had received backing from Jinnah, a Pakistani … Read more

Susan Estrich never considered abortion to be her issue. Yes, she was pro-choice. And yes, she has worked on abortion cases ever since she was a law clerk. But she was so much more, well, mainstream in her interests, which usually involved national politics. All that has changed. The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the … Read more

Last year, a bill sponsored by state Sen. Byron Sher (D-Stanford) to put some teeth into the 1968 California Public Records Act and make it easier for citizens to gain access to state records sailed through the Legislature without a peep of opposition. Passing the Senate 35-0 and the Assembly 78-0, it went to the … Read more

As the abortion issue takes center stage in the new Bush administration, family planning clinics across the nation are spotting a curious dual trend–more assertive anti-abortion protesters and more willing abortion-rights volunteers. In official Washington, the climate on abortion has unquestionably chilled. Since taking office, President Bush has voiced opposition to research using aborted fetuses, … Read more

Congress is moving to respond to public calls for police reform as protests continue across the country over the death of George Floyd and similar cases of excessive force. A Minneapolis police officer has been charged with murder in killing Floyd, a handcuffed, unarmed Black man, by kneeling on his neck for more than eight … Read more

Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords listens as her husband, Mark Kelly, speaks on Capitol Hill on Oct. 2, 2017. (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) Retired astronaut Mark Kelly, who rocketed to the national spotlight when his wife, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, was shot in a failed assassination attempt, announced Tuesday he’s running to finish John McCain’s last … Read more

Following the so-called Watts riot in 1965 a major problem appeared–”redlining.” To overcome the crippling effect of major financial institutions’ refusing to make funds available for rebuilding within the riot “control” zone, it was vitally important for the federal government to authorize direct loans to owners of real property that had been damaged or destroyed. … Read more

When Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-Colo.) came to the House of Representatives in 1972 and was assigned to serve on the House Armed Services Committee, her welcome was about as warm as her home district, Denver, in a howling snowstorm. Then-chairman F. Edward Hebert, an avowed segregationist and an old-bull Dixiecrat, made Schroeder share a seat … Read more