Biden admin to start offering free at-home Covid tests on Jan. 19
A senior administration official told reporters the government has 420 million tests under contract and tens of millions already in its possession.
Today's Liberal News
Senate panel advances Biden’s FDA pick in 13-8 vote
Two senators on the panel who caucus with Democrats and six Republicans opposed the nomination.
China locks down third city, raising affected to 20 million
The approach of the Winter Olympics and the emergence of Omicron have brought back citywide lockdowns.
Decoding what Biden health officials told Congress about Omicron
In contrast to previous oversight hearings on the administration’s Covid-19 response, Dems raised sharp questions and complaints on the state of the resurging pandemic.
Medicare won’t cover controversial Alzheimer’s drug — unless patients are in a clinical trial
FDA approved the drug on an accelerated pathway, which requires a fourth clinical trial to demonstrate that the drug actually slows cognitive decline.
Price spikes threaten to ground Biden’s big-spending plans
The government reported Wednesday that the consumer price index, the most widely watched gauge of inflation, hit a four-decade high in December compared to the previous year.
U.S. consumer prices soared 7 percent in past year, most since 1982
The jump is the latest evidence that rising costs for food, rent and other necessities are heightening the financial pressures on America’s households.
Powell’s warning to Congress: Inflation a ‘severe threat’ to jobs
The potential clash over the Fed’s plans to tighten monetary policy could be a harbinger of conflicts to come with Democrats and even some Republicans.
Fed’s Powell pumped trillions into the economy. Now, he may be the party killer.
Heightened frustration among Americans about soaring prices is fueling congressional pressure on the Fed chief over how the Fed will respond.
U.S. unemployment claims drop to 198,000
The four-week average, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, fell to just above 199,000, the lowest level since October 1969.
“Who We Are”: New Film Chronicles History of Racism in America Amid Growing Attack on Voting Rights
As the United States heads into the Martin Luther King Day holiday weekend, attempts by Democrats to pass major new voting rights legislation appear to have stalled. We examine the new award-winning documentary “Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America,” which follows civil rights attorney Jeffery Robinson as he confronts the enduring legacy of anti-Black racism in the United States, weaving together examples from the U.S. Constitution, education system and policing.
Afghanistan in Freefall: Deadly U.S. Sanctions Blamed for Shocking Humanitarian Crisis
As Afghanistan faces a dire humanitarian crisis, we look at how more Afghans may die from U.S. sanctions than at the hands of the Taliban. The U.S.’s attempts to block support for the new de facto government have prevented vital funding from flowing to the nation’s civil servants, particularly in education and the health sector. Dr.
John Nichols on How “Coronavirus Criminals & Pandemic Profiteers” Hurt World’s Response to COVID-19
We speak with The Nation’s national affairs correspondent John Nichols on the occasion of his new book, “Coronavirus Criminals and Pandemic Profiteers: Accountability for Those Who Caused the Crisis,” which takes aim at the CEOs and political figures who put profits over people during the coronavirus pandemic. The chapters cover notorious figures such as former President Trump, Mike Pompeo, Jared Kushner and Jeff Bezos.
Confessions of a “Human Guinea Pig”: Professor Quits Vaccine Trial over Moderna’s Corporate Greed
Jeremy Menchik, a self-described “human guinea pig” who volunteered for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine trials, dropped out to protest the company’s greed in reaping profits from the ongoing pandemic while doing little to resolve global vaccine inequity. Menchik is launching a new website — mrna4all.org — where other vaccine trial participants can join the effort to pressure vaccine makers to scale up production to vaccinate the world.
Trump Soft-Launches His 2024 Campaign
FLORENCE, Ariz.—Tonight, deep in the Arizona desert, thousands of people chanted for Donald Trump. They had braved the wind for hours—some waited the entire day—just to get a glimpse of the defeated former president. And when he finally appeared on stage, as Lee Greenwood played from the loudspeakers, the crowd roared as though Trump were still the commander-in-chief. To many of them, he is.“I ran twice and we won twice,” Trump told his fans.
You want something positive to listen to? Here’s a compilation of Daily Kos’ The Brief podcast
This past year, Daily Kos’ Markos Moulitsas and Kerry Eleveld began hosting a podcast called The Brief. With loads of help from Daily Kos’ Cara Zelaya, Carolyn Fiddler, and Dorothy He, and myself, we have rolled out a year’s worth of episodes, with interviews with elected officials, political advisers, legal experts, grassroots organizers, and our own in-house elections experts and reporters.
Glenn Youngkin Ends School Mask Mandates After He’s Sworn In As Virginia Governor
Youngkin quickly signed 11 executive orders, including dropping vaccine requirements for state workers and barring the teaching of critical race theory.
Cops destroy lives by lying about evidence, but are rarely held accountable
The phrase “police brutality” has often been associated with officers beating or killing innocent people, most often people of color. For over a year now, what often comes to mind is the Facebook video of George Floyd gasping for breath under the knee of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer who has since been convicted of Floyd’s murder.
Fake COVID-19 testing sites are scamming vulnerable communities across the country
by Sravya Tadepalli
This article was originally published at Prism
When Houston resident Paul Middendorf woke up congested one early morning this month, he decided to get tested for COVID-19. He found a COVID-testing pop-up site in the East Montrose neighborhood of Houston and joined the approximately 40 others in line to get a test.
Eric Swalwell Rips Steve Bannon’s New Call To ‘Decertify’ Biden As Democracy’s ‘Endgame’
“You cannot interpret this as anything but a declaration of war on democracy,” notes the California lawmaker.
COVID-19 protocols are a bad joke at many businesses, this week in the war on workers
At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, essential workers were widely dubbed “heroes.” That didn’t mean they were treated well or protected with adequate safety measures, but people were talking about their contributions. Since then, company after company has rolled back already inadequate safety measures and benefits.
No big shocker to learn that Herschel Walker hawked ‘dry mist’ spray to ‘clean’ you of COVID-19
If the fact that he lied about graduating from college, almost appeared at a fundraiser thrown by a woman with a Nazi insignia on her Twitter profile, or his long history of domestic violence doesn’t sway you, maybe pro football star-turned-Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walkers’ new “dry mist” for COVID-19 will sell you.
Trump Ally Dan Bongino Suspended From YouTube Over COVID-19 Misinformation
The right-wing commentator told a YouTube employee to “kiss my ass” in an email tantrum he shared on Twitter
This Is No Way to Be Human
Recently I met the astronomer Pascal Oesch, an assistant professor at the University of Geneva. Professor Oesch and his colleagues share the distinction of having discovered the most distant known object, a small galaxy called GNz-11. That galaxy is so far away that its light had to travel for 13 billion years to get from there to here. I asked Professor Oesch if he felt personally connected to this tiny smudge on his computer screen.
How Did We Get So ‘Cringe’?
Take a tweet from the week after the Capitol riot in January 2021: “A Liberal insurrection would have looked very different. We would have escorted the original Broadway cast of Hamilton into the galleries. They would softly sing … as members of the GOP spewed their lies.” This was apparently intended as satire of a certain type of extremely online and cringe-inducing liberal smugness, but it came off as the thing itself and then produced more of the same.
The Selfishness of Novak Djokovic
Updated at 8:20 p.m. ET on January 15, 2022After a dramatic weeklong fight with the world’s top men’s tennis player, Australia’s immigration authorities wisely decided to revoke Novak Djokovic’s visa a second time because he flouted the country’s COVID-19 policies. Although the Australian authorities and tennis officials aren’t blameless, this is a huge, self-inflicted public-relations crisis for Djokovic that has smeared his legacy.
The Case for Keeping Up Your Christmas Tree Until March
Right now, there is a hole in my living room. It was not there last week. We’ve tried to cover it up, but nothing seems to work. Rearranging the furniture somehow only makes the hole grow. The space, which once radiated a hopeful glow, now feels hollow. When I stare at this hole, I begin to feel as if a light has gone out in the world. Actually, not just one, many. And that’s because they have.I am, of course, talking about my Christmas tree (RIP).
CNN Unearths Audio Of Kevin McCarthy Saying Trump Admitted Responsibility For Riot
CNN’s “K-File” resurfaced the top House Republican’s comments to a California radio station just days after the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Senate panel advances Biden’s FDA pick in 13-8 vote
Two senators on the panel who caucus with Democrats and six Republicans opposed the nomination.
China locks down third city, raising affected to 20 million
The approach of the Winter Olympics and the emergence of Omicron have brought back citywide lockdowns.