Society

The Danger Lurking in a Possible Supreme Court Victory for Obamacare

The Danger Lurking in a Possible Supreme Court Victory for Obamacare The Danger Lurking in a Possible Supreme Court Victory for Obamacare

There is a way President Cruz could still badly damage Obamacare all by himself, even if the Supreme Court upholds the law.

Mar 5, 2015 / George Zornick

It’s Not Just Ferguson

It’s Not Just Ferguson It’s Not Just Ferguson

Cities nationwide are criminalizing black people to pay the bills.

Mar 5, 2015 / Raven Rakia

Defeat: Major League Soccer Players Union Scores an Own Goal

Defeat: Major League Soccer Players Union Scores an Own Goal Defeat: Major League Soccer Players Union Scores an Own Goal

Players, fans and the long-term success of MLS lose in the new collective bargaining agreement. It didn’t have to end this way.

Mar 5, 2015 / Dave Zirin

50 Years After Bloody Sunday, Voting Rights Are Under Attack

50 Years After Bloody Sunday, Voting Rights Are Under Attack 50 Years After Bloody Sunday, Voting Rights Are Under Attack

The right to vote is under the greatest threat since the passage of the Voting Rights Act.

Mar 5, 2015 / Ari Berman

The Truth About the Measles

The Truth About the Measles The Truth About the Measles

The return of the world’s most contagious disease.

Mar 4, 2015 / Feature / Annie Sparrow

SNL Mocks ISIS, Boehner Mocks His Ultras, and It’s All Pretty Funny

SNL Mocks ISIS, Boehner Mocks His Ultras, and It’s All Pretty Funny SNL Mocks ISIS, Boehner Mocks His Ultras, and It’s All Pretty Funny

Sharia’s coming to get you.

Mar 4, 2015 / Leslie Savan

The GED Is Now Harder to Take—And Harder to Pass

The GED Is Now Harder to Take—And Harder to Pass The GED Is Now Harder to Take—And Harder to Pass

Who benefits from a high school equivalency exam that judges nothing better than how well you'll do on the exam?

Mar 4, 2015 / Michelle Chen

How Ferguson, Missouri, Uses Cops and the Courts to Prey on Its Residents

How Ferguson, Missouri, Uses Cops and the Courts to Prey on Its Residents How Ferguson, Missouri, Uses Cops and the Courts to Prey on Its Residents

A “scathing” report from the Department of Justice traces discriminatory policing back to the city’s reliance on the fines that accompany tickets and arrests.

Mar 4, 2015 / Zoë Carpenter

Why Nobody Seems to Mind That Bill O’Reilly Is a Total Fraud

Why Nobody Seems to Mind That Bill O’Reilly Is a Total Fraud Why Nobody Seems to Mind That Bill O’Reilly Is a Total Fraud

The Fox News anchor’s war stories have been exposed as lies. And it’s all good.

Mar 4, 2015 / Column / Eric Alterman

True Grit?

True Grit? True Grit?

Nation contributor and TV host Laura Flanders isn’t the first feminist to face down some gun-toting cowboys, but her battle is a little unusual. Since 2008, Flanders’s GRITtv has broadcast the voices of marginalized experts and grassroots activists on cable, satellite and public television, as well as online. “I interview people with grit,” Flanders explained in a phone interview. But last summer, she received a phone call asking if she was aware that there was another Grit TV station in town. Flanders jumped online, where she discovered the new Grit (grittv.com), an “action-oriented” digital channel targeting men between 25 and 54 (sexagenarians, beware!). Launched on August 18, the new Grit is “built around the classic male hero, with a focus on western, war and action movies,” said Jonathan Katz, president and CEO of Katz Broadcasting, which operates the network. Please support our journalism. Get a digital subscription for just $9.50! No sane person is likely to mistake Harrison Ford for Naomi Klein—but viewers might find it difficult to separate the near-identical branding. Flanders says her voicemail and e-mail have been filled with messages from viewers frustrated with the quality of Grit’s digital signal. Viewers confuse contact information on her website for Grit’s—and even the programming. One disgruntled viewer wrote to Flanders: “Your channel showing war films is propaganda!” Last fall, GRITtv’s lawyer sent Grit a cease-and-desist letter. GRITtv has applied for a trademark; Grit has, too. Legally, Flanders’s longtime prior use of “GRIT” gives her the right to the brand. The Grit guys have yet to acknowledge the consumer confusion, but even a cowboy could tell you that intellectual property law no longer resembles the Wild, Wild West. That frontier mentality goes by another name now: theft. Read Next: Greg Grandin on Venezuela after Chávez

Mar 4, 2015 / Ava Kofman

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