On a bluebird day last summer at Portland International Raceway‚ a banner at the fan village proclaimed: “Progress Is Unstoppable.” Kids pedaled stationary bicycles that charged their phones. Families lounged on pink beanbags while upbeat electronic music thumped. At the hydration station‚ smiling attendants offered water in compostable cups and — wait a minute‚ compostable cups? Where were the red plastic cups sloshing Budweiser and the country music? And why weren’t my nostrils tingling with...

A Texas appeals court on Friday upheld a lower court's injunction blocking the state from investigating parents who provide their transgender children with gender-affirming medical treatments‚ which Governor Greg Abbott has called abusive. Abbott‚ a Republican‚ had ordered the state Department of Family Protective Services (DFPS) to carry out child abuse investigations into families whose children were receiving puberty-blocking treatments in February 2022. A month later‚ a district court...

Two days after Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis linked Chicago’s measles outbreak to the number of migrants being housed in 23 shelters‚ city health officials announced there are now 52 confirmed cases. The majority of cases are linked to Chicago’s largest migrant shelter‚ where more than 1‚800 new arrivals are being held‚ the Chicago Department of Public Health announced. Of the 52 confirmed cases‚ 31 involve children under the age of 5. As of Wednesday‚ the city had reported 35 cases. This...

President Joe Biden has fired the longtime U.S. Railroad Retirement Board inspector general on grounds of creating a hostile work environment‚ the White House confirmed to the Washington Examiner. Martin Dickman had been in the position since October 1994‚ when he was confirmed by the Senate under the Clinton administration‚ but he had been under investigation by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency since January 2023. Biden was presented with the findings of...

Protests and disruptions from pro-Palestinian demonstrators at President Joe Biden’s glitzy‚ elitist fundraiser on Thursday are the latest examples of extreme division on the left regarding his handling of the Israel-Hamas war‚ which is jeopardizing his reelection prospects. Outside of Radio City Music Hall on Thursday‚ a large crowd of pro-Palestinian demonstrators screamed phrases like‚ “Fuck Joe Biden!” “Genocide Joe Has got to go!” and “Democrats‚ you can’t hide. We charge you with...

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) put a diversity‚ equity‚ and inclusion (DEI) consultant on the Maryland Port Commission just months before a container ship crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. The supply chain on the East Coast and beyond now hangs in the balance as authorities will have to swiftly undertake complex feats of engineering to reopen the port and‚ eventually‚ the bridge. Moore named Karenthia Barber to the Commission last August. The headline of the press release...

Not just a novelty instrument. The post Jimi Hendrix and the uke: how the ukulele gave us the greatest guitarist of all time first appeared on Far Out Magazine.