The Alleged News®

by Peter Dreier In our new book, Baseball Rebels: The Players, People, and Social Movements That Shook Up the Game and Changed America, Rob Elias and I profile the many iconoclasts, dissenters and mavericks who defied baseball’s and society’s establishment. But none took as many risks—and had as big an impact—as Jackie Robinson. Though Robinson was a fierce competitor, an outstanding athlete, and a deeply religious man, the aspect of his legacy that often gets glossed over is that he was also a radical. The sanitized version of the Jackie Robinson story goes something like this: He was a remarkable athlete who, with his unusual …

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In a shocking performance at a Washington, D.C. gala, New Hampshire’s Republican Governor told the f___ing truth. Due to its unexpected nature, the event made headlines around the world—which, given Governor Sununu’s political ambitions, was likely his intent. Typically, when he’s back home among the rubes voters, Chris Sununu presents a folksy, more wholesome image. On Saturday evening’s Gridiron Dinner, though, before 600 Washington insiders in formal evening wear, he was exceptionally foul-mouthed. Rep. Jamie Raskin [D–Md.], quoted in the Washington Post, said he had not heard a “Republican use the F-word that much since the Nixon administration.” The Gridiron Dinner is an annual celebration …

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[Muttering in the newsroom: “If only we could think up a clever way to put this…maybe that would make it more palatable. On the other hand, there’s much to be said for brutal honesty. Have to check with Legal, and see if there’s any case law on criminal liability for printing news that’s just too godawful to be read safely….”] Oh, pardon us, dear reader. We were just trying to decide whether to continue publishing this newspaper, or to don sackcloth and ashes, join a mendicant pilgrimage, and walk barefoot to…. Well, that’s just it, isn’t it? Where the hell do you go when Earth …

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by Richard Eskow From President Biden’s State of the Union: “Tonight I say to the Russian oligarchs and corrupt leaders who have bilked billions of dollars off this violent regime: no more. “The U.S. Department of Justice is assembling a dedicated task force to go after the crimes of Russian oligarchs.  “We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets. We are coming for your ill-begotten gains.” With these words, the president unintentionally laid out a blueprint for responding to the American oligarchs, superpredators who dwarf their Russian counterpoints in wealth and political power. Oligarchs …

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A bipartisan bill passed the House last week by a vote of 342 to 92. Yeah, you read that right. Congress passed a bill, and by a very healthy margin. All 222 Democrats voted “yea” on the Postal Service Reform Act, and 120 Republicans voted “yea” with them; 92 Republicans chose instead to meet our low expectations. Among other things, H.R. 3076 “repeals the requirement that the USPS annually prepay future retirement health benefits.” That means $57 billion just got subtracted from the Postal Service’s $200 billion in liabilities. As the Washington Post opined, though, “This overhaul is not a panacea for all the Postal …

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An unrelenting barrage of distressing news can be bad for the digestion. We have therefore prepared the following bit of good news as an apertif. Human tests may soon begin on a new technology designed to help people with paralysis regain independence through the control of computers and mobile devices. Specifically, this new device will enhance the ability of paralyzed people to “communicate more easily via text or speech synthesis, to follow their curiosity on the web, or to express their creativity through photography, art, or writing apps.” That’s just the beginning. According to Neuralink, “As our technology develops, we will be able to increase …

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