Ulysses Ortega for The New York Times
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Test scores for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) revealed significant declines for 13-year-olds in the U.S—math performance fell to 1990 levels, reading fell to 2004 levels. Where were these declines observed?
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
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An investigation revealed that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito took a luxury fishing trip in 2008 with Republican megadonor Paul Singer. Singer later had cases before the Supreme Court—why did Alito say he didn’t recuse himself from these cases?
Alito published his response in a Wall Street Journal op-ed before ProPublica released their investigation about the fishing trip. Alito argued that Singer’s name did not appear in any of the briefs so he was unaware that Singer was involved, and that an unbiased person would not doubt his ability to be impartial in the case anyway. Alito also said he did not include the trip in his financial disclosures because it was not required until recently, and the trip did not impose additional expenses for Singer because the seat “would have otherwise been vacant.”
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The Federal Trade Commission is suing Amazon over “nonconsensual enrollment,” usage of “dark patterns,” and an overcomplicated cancellation process. What Amazon program—which generates $25 billion in annual revenue for the company—is the FTC referencing?
The FTC charges that Amazon “duped millions of consumers into unknowingly enrolling in Amazon Prime.” They also claim Amazon tricked consumers into renewing their $14.99/month Prime subscriptions and made the cancellation flow unnecessarily complicated.
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For the first time, the Agriculture Department approved the production and sale of this special type of chicken, which supporters claim is more ethical and environmentally-friendly.
The Agriculture Department approved the production and sale of lab-grown chicken from two California companies, Upside Foods and Good Meat. To create it, cells are taken from a chicken and then those cells are fed water, salt, and various nutrients. The cells multiply, and are eventually harvested as minced meat, without bones or feathers. Upside Foods’ CEO, Uma Valeti, is a cardiologist by training, and realized the technique he used to regrow heart tissue could be applied to meat production.
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Yesterday, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted to censure this California congressman for his comments about Donald Trump’s ties to Russia several years ago.
The censure resolution claims that Schiff abused his position of power and that his claims that there was evidence of Trump’s campaign colluding with Russia “ripped apart American families.” Schiff, who is running for Senate, became the 25th House lawmaker ever to be censured, and called it a “badge of honor.” Although the censure itself has no practical effect, the resolution will also launch an ethics investigation into Schiff’s conduct.
