Author: TheGuardian

Civil wars do not always begin with gunfire. Sometimes civil wars begin with learned arguments. In April 1861, Confederate forces shot on Fort Sumter, but at the time even Jefferson Davis, the Confederate president, had doubts about whether the event mattered all that much. It was, he claimed, “either the beginning of a fearful war, or the end of a political contest.” He could not say which. During the decades that preceded the assault on Fort Sumter, complex legal and political fissures had been working their way through the United States, slowly rendering the country ungovernable and opening the...

An alarming number of products purchased at dollar stores, including many children’s toys, contain harmful chemicals, according to a report released on April 12. Researchers tested 226 products purchased at five popular retailers for chemicals, including phthalates and lead, and found that 120, or more than half, had at least one chemical of concern. Among the products that tested positive were colorful baby toys and Disney-themed headphones. “As a parent, I should be able to buy a product without expecting to poison my child,” said Jose Bravo, national coordinator at the Campaign for Healthier Solutions, a coalition that calls...

The propagation of White Supremacist propaganda in the United States remained at historically high levels in 2021 despite a small recent dip, a new study from the Anti-Defamation League has revealed. ADL’s research found that although 2021 data indicated a 5% drop in incidents of distributing White supremacist propaganda from 2020 – with 4,851 cases reported, compared with 5,125 the year before – the numbers remain at worryingly serious levels. Throughout 2021, White Supremacist propaganda was reported in all states except Hawaii. The highest levels of propaganda activity occurred in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Texas, Massachusetts, Washington, Maryland and New York....