Masha Gessen | The Language of a Dictatorship

23 December 17 AM It's Live on the HomePage Now:  Reader Supported News A PAINFUL DECISION: It's always painful when we have to press for donations. We have supporters, many. We have many more who could be. The organization cannot function without support. It's a painful decision. / Marc Ash - Founder, Reader Supported News Sure, I'll make a donation! Masha Gessen | The Language of a Dictatorship    Masha Gessen, The New Yorker  Gessen writes: "Donald Trump has scored a legislative victory with staggering costs. The price of the tax bill has to be measured not only in the loss American society will face in the increase in inequality, in the impact on public health, and the growth of the deficit, but also in the damage to political culture inflicted by the spectacle of one powerful man after another telling lies of various sorts."  READ MORE Appeals Court Rules That Trump's Third Travel Ban Is Illegal  Josh Gerstein, Politico  Gerstein writes: "A federal appeals court ruled that the latest version of President Donald Trump's controversial travel ban policy should be partially blocked because the president appears to have exceeded his authority in issuing the directive."  READ MORE EPA Officials, Disheartened by Agency's Direction, Are Leaving in Droves  Lisa Friedman, Marina Affo and Derek Kravitz, The New York Times  Excerpt: "More than 700 people have left the Environmental Protection Agency since President Trump took office, a wave of departures that puts the administration nearly a quarter of the way toward its goal of shrinking the agency to levels last seen during the Reagan administration."  READ MORE ACLU Investigation Reveals Texas Troopers Are Turning Traffic Stops of Immigrants Into Deportations  Nermeen Shaikh, Amy Goodman and Debbie Nathan, Democracy Now!  Excerpt: "A shocking new investigation by the ACLU of Texas and The Intercept reveals how state troopers are essentially acting as deportation officers."  READ MORE 2017 Was a Year of Eroding Workers' Rights  Casey Quinlan, ThinkProgress  Quinlan writes: "There have been a series of victories for labor rights in recent years. Graduate student workers at private colleges and universities now have the right to unionize. In New York, employers are no longer allowed to ask for an employee's salary history - a question that often hurts women and people of color. And the Fight for 15 has scored wins in cities across the country."  READ MORE Quarter of Rohingya Children Fleeing Violence Are Acutely Malnourished  teleSUR  Excerpt: "Nearly 25 percent of Rohingya children under the age of five who recently fled Myanmar are suffering from acute life-threatening malnutrition, the United Nations said, AFP reported."  READ MORE Get Ready for More Volcanic Eruptions as the Planet Warms  Annie Sneed, Scientific American  Sneed writes: "Tens of thousands of people have evacuated their land in Bali as the nearby volcano Mount Agung angrily spits ash and its magma rises. Many Balinese hold the mountain sacred and accept its occasional outbursts as moral admonishments whereas geologists consider this activity a routine part of Earth's behavior."  READ MORE Contribute to RSN Become a Fan of RSN on Facebook and Twitter Update My Monthly Donation