Reaching ‘Herd Immunity’ Is Unlikely in the U.S., Experts Now Believe  —  Widely circulating coronavirus variants and persistent hesitancy about vaccines will keep the goal out of reach.  The virus is here to stay, but vaccinating the most vulnerable may be enough to restore normalcy.

The mask slips, revealing the truth about the GOP voter suppression game  —  Republicans are responding to their 2020 losses by doing everything they can to restrict the size of the electorate wherever possible, in ways they think will advantage them.  To disguise this ugly game …

ESPN's Kevin Merida named L.A. Times executive editor  —  The Los Angeles Times has named veteran journalist Kevin Merida as its top editor and tasked him with transforming the storied 139-year-old newspaper into a digital powerhouse that thrives for decades to come.

Senate Dems agonize over voting rights strategy  —  Senate Democrats made a major commitment to muscle through Speaker Nancy Pelosi's ethics and voting reform bill.  Yet many say they have no idea how to pass it and wonder what exactly the end game is for a signature Democratic priority.

Cheney stokes GOP rift with ‘big lie’ rebuke of Trump  —  Rep. Liz Cheney on Monday escalated her feud with former President Donald Trump and his supporters in Congress, issuing a less-than-subtle swipe at the former president's latest attempt to claim the 2020 election was stolen from him.

Rudy Giuliani raids signal accountability is coming for the Donald Trump era  —  The FBI raids of Giuliani's home and office should worry former President Trump and all who followed his lead in playing fast and loose with the law.  —  Former President Donald Trump and his cronies should beware.

Millions Are Saying No to the Vaccines.  What Are They Thinking?  —  Several days ago, the mega-popular podcast host Joe Rogan advised his young listeners to skip the COVID-19 vaccine.  “I think you should get vaccinated if you're vulnerable,” Rogan said.  “But if you're 21 years old, and you say to me, ‘Should I get vaccinated?’

Mitch McConnell: 1619, American slavery starting point, not an important date in history  —  LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday he doesn't think 1619 is one of the most important points in U.S. history.  —  That's the year the first enslaved Africans …

Justice Clarence Thomas, Long Silent, Has Turned Talkative  —  The Supreme Court's orderly telephone arguments, prompted by the pandemic, have given the public a revealing look at its longest-serving member.  —  WASHINGTON — Justice Clarence Thomas, who once went a decade without asking …

Lin Wood Is Just Asking Questions  —  On a late pandemic Friday night, the Richland County Republican Party held its convention in a drab, windowless conference room, with the AC blowing full blast.  —  Among the overwhelmingly maskless congregants was Lin Wood, candidate for state party chairman …

New York, New Jersey, Connecticut ending most restrictions on May 19  —  New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are lifting most Covid-19-related restrictions on May 19, signaling a denouement for some of the country's strictest lockdown orders and social distancing protocols imposed during the pandemic.

Facebook and the Normalization of Deviance  —  The trouble with waiting to address problems long after you know that they exist.  —  When the sociologist Diane Vaughan came up with the term “the normalization of deviance,” she was referring to nasa administrators' disregard of the flaw …

‘A troubled man’: Kansas Senate leader decries Rep. Mark Samsel's ‘deranged rantings’  —  Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson on Sunday condemned the “deranged rantings” of Rep. Mark Samsel, caught on video Wednesday talking to high school students about religion, sex and suicide.

San Francisco archbishop suggests Pelosi, Biden be denied Communion  —  He warned public figures who support abortion ‘should not come forward to receive Holy Communion’  —  Planned Parenthood files lawsuit over South Carolina abortion ban  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's hometown bishop …

There's not just one kind of vaccine hesitancy  —  Around 10% of Americans aren't very eager to get the vaccine, but they're not really hesitant either — they're just waiting to get it until they get around to it, according to new Harris polling.  —  Why it matters: Making vaccination …

Advocate of Revamping Student Loan System Will Head Federal Aid Office  —  Richard Cordray, who led the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under President Obama, was appointed on Monday as chief operating officer of federal student aid in the Education Department.

Voices on the Vote  —  Impediments and Confidence in the 2020 Election  —  Elections, Political Parties, Race & Ethnicity  —  TABLE OF CONTENTS:  — Changes in Voting Methods  — Confidence in Accurate Vote Counts  — Informing Election Reforms  — Appendices  —  Key Findings

Swiss Billionaire Quietly Becomes Influential Force Among Democrats  —  Hansjörg Wyss, who recently dropped his bid to buy Tribune Publishing, has been a leading source of difficult-to-trace money to groups associated with Democrats.  —  WASHINGTON — He is not as well known …

‘Good Jewish boy’ or chief ‘infiltrator’?  NJ man spent years as fake rabbi in Israel, groups say  —  A self-professed “good Jewish boy from New Jersey,” Rabbi Michael Elkohen had come a long way.  —  In the ultra-Orthodox enclave in Jerusalem where Elkohen now lives …

Disneyland's new Snow White ride adds magic, but also a new problem  —  Let's get this out of the way first: Snow White's Enchanted Wish, the revamped ride that replaced Snow White's Scary Adventures in Disneyland, is really good.  The attraction preserves much of the charm of what originally opened …

Is America slipping to autocracy?  —  Share to Facebook Share to Twitter  —  Last Wednesday, President Joe Biden delivered a 65-minute speech to a joint session of Congress, with Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) historically flanking him.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.  THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.  —  FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN ANCHOR: This is GPS, the GLOBAL PUBLIC SQUARE.  Welcome to all of you in the United States and around the world.  I'm Fareed Zakaria.  —  (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

Biden administration to reunite four migrant families separated under Trump  —  WASHINGTON — The Biden administration will reunite four migrant families separated during the Trump administration this week, while its reunification task force estimates that over 1,000 families remain separated …

American Politics Now Has Two Big Racial Divides  —  There's been a recent flurry of studies and analyses that take a deeper look at the results of the 2020 election.  These examinations don't contradict our early interpretation of the results from the days and weeks immediately following Election Day …

In bitterly divided election in Southlake, Texas, opponents of anti-racism education win big  —  SOUTHLAKE, Texas — Nine months after officials in the affluent Carroll Independent School District introduced a proposal to combat racial and cultural intolerance in schools …

The slow, painful death of Trump allies' voting-machine conspiracy theories  —  Among the many wild conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, few rank as high when it comes to both baselessness and reach as those involving voting machines.  The theory that voting machines were programmed …

Day 1 of the End of the U.S. War in Afghanistan  —  The scenes over the weekend were almost as if a trillion-dollar effort had morphed into a garage sale.  —  KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — On the morning of May 1, an Afghan transport aircraft landed at this sprawling military base in the country's south.

Push against trans athletes in girls' sports fails in Kansas  —  TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Conservative Republican legislators in Kansas failed Monday to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's veto of a proposed ban on transgender athletes in girls' and women's school sports.

The COVID Culture War Will Never End  —  Pandemics end; culture wars are forever.  —  3 hr ago  —  1. The COVID Culture War  —  Donald Trump responded to the pandemic by turning COVID into a culture war.  He demonized mitigation efforts, peddled a constant stream of misinformation …