Newsweek 11/26/2021

1989 “At a distance, the yellow, granulated mounds rising 250 feet over Staten Island might be mistaken for sand dunes—if not for the stench,” Newsweek said when describing Fresh Kills, once the largest landfill in the world. Collecting 24,000 tons of garbage daily and spanning 2,200 acres, this was the only destination for New York City residents’ trash from 1991 until its closing in 2001. Efforts across the country to put a dent in overflowing landfills inspired New York City to transform Fresh Kills into a park, which has been dedicated to recreation, education and wildlife since its opening in 2012. 1968 “Wild colors, jangling jewelry, bizarre tailoring—imagine almost any exotic fashion, and today’s more unconventional male is wearing it,” Newsweek reported as masculine fashion was redefined by embellishment. Promoting gender fluidity in…

IT’S A CORE PRINCIPLE OF ECONOMICS THAT people do what they are incentivized to do. That may be why Democratic Senators Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia haven’t hesitated to oppose popular progressive policies in their own party’s spending bill: They can bet on getting a payoff in the end. During the fight over Democrats’ social spending reconciliation bill, Sinema, for example, has played a prominent—albeit silent—role in watering down the party’s plan to allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices. She’s also helped gut Democrats’ plan to expand Medicare benefits, nixed tax hikes on the wealthy and corporations and pushed to make the overall bill smaller. While Sinema isn’t up for reelection until 2024, she is polling terribly and already facing the threat of a well-financed…

“What would be considered a success would be if people realize what a failure this COP is.”—GRETA THUNBERG“I HAD NO IDEA HOW ABJECTLY STUPID THE MAN IS.”—ANN COULTER ON PRESIDENT TRUMP“It’s not just about the mom.”—MEGHAN MARKLE ON PAID FAMILY LEAVE“We need Christian kibbutz…this type of circular community…. It’s better to have a grandparent taking care of the kids than a nanny taking care of kids—hired love.”—YE, FORMERLY KANYE WEST“DEMOCRATS OUGHT TO GO TO DEFCON 2.”—Representative Gerry Connolly of Virginia after Republicans swept elections in Virginia“Very, very discouraging.”—WANDA COOPER-JONES, AHMAUD ARBERY’S MOTHER, ON THE MOSTLY WHITE JURY IN THE CASE OF THE MEN ACCUSED OF HIS MURDER“UNDERGARMENTS”—Steve Stich of NASA on what the SpaceX crew would rely on due to a leaky toilet FROM LEFT: JASON LAVERIS/GETTY; PAL HANSEN/CONTOUR/GETTY; TOM WILLIAMS/CQ…

PRESIDENT BIDEN RECENTLY announced that after negotiations with moderate Democrats, his Build Back Better Act would no longer include 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave and free community college. While this was disappointing, all hope is not lost for workers; the new plan still includes $40 billion to make higher education and training more affordable, including expanded Pell Grants and critical investments in skills-based training, support services and America’s workforce development infrastructure. These investments will have a sizable impact, especially if educational institutions and training providers remember workers of color and others who are too often left behind. America needs this focus urgently. A recent analysis of enrollment data from 40 states found that Black and Latinx students were more likely to wind up in programs oriented toward lower-paying fields…

IN 2006, I SERVED AS A U.S. NAVY IT specialist aiding my ship’s mission of finding and neutralizing pirates off the coast of Somalia. Two years later, I was homeless, standing in a line in Gainesville, Florida, that twisted around the block so I could donate blood in exchange for 20 bucks. Many of the men waiting with me looked almost as bad as I did—all of us homeless and hungry. My hair was matted, crusted from dandruff, and my eyes were bloodshot. My fingers tingled because of withdrawal from the anti-anxiety medications I wasn’t getting from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Between childhood trauma and my four years in the service, I relied on medications such as clonazepam for anxiety and Zoloft for PTSD, but the VA delivered my…

TWENTY YEARS AFTER THE WORST ATTACK ever to occur on U.S. soil, it’s not just large passenger planes that are keeping defense officials and experts up at night. They are just as worried about the threat from smaller, readily available unmanned aerial systems capable of carrying deadly payloads. Drones are not tomorrow’s weapons of mass destruction. The arsenals of the world’s armies are already full of them. Meanwhile, it is getting easier and cheaper to outfit commercially available models with a range of weapons, making them increasingly tempting options for terrorists and other violent non-government groups. One U.S. military official who requested anonymity paints a potential nightmare picture involving small drones, referred to as “unmanned aerial systems,” “unmanned aircraft systems” or simply, UAS. “I kind of wonder what could you do if…