Trump's Plan to Pay for That Very Big Wall Is Very Stupid

Jeff Ihaza · 04/05/16 06:30PM

One of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s main (if not only) defined policy goals is to erect an enormous, very tall, very expensive wall on the border between The United States and Mexico. Today, in a memo, Trump made it clear how he would pay for this wall—by bankrupting Mexico’s poor.

The New Republic Made a Good Tweet and Then Deleted It

Alex Pareene · 04/05/16 02:50PM

The New Republic, a 102-year-old American magazine of current events reporting and commentary, today wrote “fuck me daddy” to Donald J. Trump, the businessman and current front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, on the social networking platform Twitter. Then they deleted it.

Rahm Emanuel Secretly Spent Night After Chicago Teachers' Strike Enjoying "Hamilton" on Broadway

Jordan Sargent · 04/05/16 02:40PM

Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel has a long list of enemies. Near the top is the Chicago Teachers Union, with which he’s feuded for his entire tenure as mayor. This past Friday, the union staged a one-day strike, closing schools across the city in order to draw attention to their latest round of negotiations with the city, which wants the teachers to accept cuts to pay, staffing, and budgets.

The Myth of the Addictive Personality

Maia Szalavitz · 04/05/16 02:30PM

When people think of someone with an “addictive personality,” the image typically isn’t a pretty one. “When is an addict lying?” goes a joke told by addiction counselors: the snide answer is “when his lips are moving.” Media portrayals of addiction tend to depict people with addictions as “fiends” or “demons” whose debauchery is driven by a ravenous hedonism, not a human or understandable search for safety and comfort. Consequently, the “addictive personality” is seen as a bad one: weak, unreliable, selfish, and out of control.

Who's Named in the Panama Papers?

Gabrielle Bluestone · 04/05/16 10:40AM

What do heads of state, FIFA execs, billionaires, celebrities, and hundreds of their rich and powerful friends have in common? Quite a few things, I’d wager, but here’s something specific: They’ve all been named in the “Panama Papers,” the trove of 11.5 million records that give insight into how the rich and powerful hide their money abroad.

NYPD's Blowhard Union Boss Is Feeling a Little Scared and a Little Confused

Andy Cush · 04/05/16 10:10AM

Let’s look at a few recent headlines published yesterday and today about crime in New York City. “New York City just recorded its fewest shootings ever,” reads a Fusion article from this morning, which aggregated the Huffington Post’s report, “New York City Murder Rate Drops To Historic Low.” Police magazine, however, took a different approach: “NYPD Union Chief Blames ‘Anti-Police Atmosphere’ for Rise in Shootings, Slashings.”

This Is Bad, Even For Sarah Palin

Gabrielle Bluestone · 04/05/16 09:49AM

Sarah Palin this week spoke before a crowd of Republicans for more than 20 minutes. Despite using thousands of words that would technically be characterized as “English,” Palin garnered real applause exactly once—when she spoke about Benghazi. It was that terrible.