If Republicans Were Serious About Addressing Mental Health, This Is What They’d Do
These steps aren’t a substitute for action on guns, but they could still help a lot of people.
Today's Liberal News
The Potential of a ‘Hot War’ Between the U.S. and Russia
This is an edition of Up for Debate, a newsletter by Conor Friedersdorf. On Wednesdays, he rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here.Question of the WeekRussia’s murderous invasion of Ukraine is ongoing. So is the oppression of Uyghur Muslims in Chinese concentration camps. China also has designs on subjugating the people of Hong Kong and potentially Taiwan.
The Books That Taught a Debate Champion How to Argue
Less than a year after I read my first book in English, The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl, I joined my elementary school’s debate team. I was a fifth grader and a recent immigrant to Australia, and the two milestones were closely related. As the language and culture of my new home became legible to me, I began to desire more than comprehension. I wanted to talk back and, in turn, be heard.I soon learned that reading served an urgent purpose in debate.
The Kind of Prayer That Could Make a Difference
An exhausting routine has developed in the aftermath of mass shootings: Politicians offer “thoughts and prayers” and gun-control proponents respond with justified outrage, pointing out that only political action—the kind that those politicians are blocking—can stem such tragedies. Of course we need real policy change to end gun violence.
‘This Is the Price We Pay to Live in This Kind of Society’
The sites of mass shootings have become instantly recognizable markers of tragedy in the geography of recent American history: There’s Columbine, Parkland, Aurora, the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Sandy Hook, and Virginia Tech, among many others. And now there’s the Tops market in Buffalo, and Uvalde.
Western Support for Ukraine Has Peaked
We’ve likely reached the high-water mark of the grand alliance to defeat Russia in Ukraine. In the coming months, relations between the Ukrainian leadership and its external supporters will grow strained, and the culprit will be economic pain exacerbated by the war.
Civil Rights Orgs Challenge Racist “Insular Cases” Used to Legally Discriminate Against Puerto Rico
Civil rights groups are challenging a series of racist U.S. Supreme Court rulings that have been used for over a century to legally justify discrimination against people in Puerto Rico and other U.S.-occupied territories.
Yemeni Man Maimed in U.S. Drone Strike Raises Funds Online for His Surgery as Pentagon Refuses Help
Calls are growing for the Pentagon to acknowledge that a U.S. drone strike on March 29, 2018, in Yemen mistakenly struck civilians. Adel Al Manthari was the only survivor of the drone strike, which killed his four cousins as they were driving a car across the village of Al Uqla. The Pentagon refuses to admit the men were civilians and it made a mistake. Now supporters are demanding the U.S. pay for the devastating injuries Al Manthari sustained and fund the surgery he urgently needs.
Will the Gun Lobby Block New Safety Laws Again? The NRA Is Imploding, But Its Ideology Still Dominates
In the aftermath of the mass shootings in Uvalde and Buffalo, demand for gun control at the state and federal level is mounting. We speak with Frank Smyth, longtime investigative journalist who has been covering the National Rifle Association, about the gun lobby’s grip on U.S. lawmakers.
Vaccine injury compensation programs overwhelmed as congressional reform languishes
One program covers nearly three times as many vaccines today as it did when it was created three decades ago. Despite bipartisan calls for change, Congress has failed to act.
America’s hospital regulator wasn’t designed for a pandemic
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is responsible for safety regulations. It is ill-equipped to enforce them.
Austin pushing to effectively decriminalize abortion ahead of ruling on Roe
The state’s so-called trigger law, which would take effect 30 days after a Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe, includes the nation’s harshest criminal penalties on abortion.
CMS turning attention to hospitals with Covid outbreaks
The nation’s hospital regulator is probing hospitals where patients were likely infected with Covid after a record spike in transmission this year.
Demand for monkeypox vaccine grows in U.S., European countries as virus cases climb
Governments warn against panicking, but they are planning for the worst outcome.
Pfizer, BioNTech report 80 percent efficacy of Covid-19 vaccine for youngest children
The companies plan to finish submitting data to the Food and Drug Administration this week.
China’s fragility feeds the doom-mongers in Davos
Fêted at the World Economic Forum in 2017, Xi Jinping is now accused of torpedoing the global economy with his disastrous Zero Covid strategy.
RIP Davos Man, long live globalization
Open markets aren’t what they used to be. A more complicated, more regional economic system is reshaping the global order.
U.S. economy is in a ‘period of transition,’ White House economic adviser says
Despite high inflation, the U.S. is “moving from the strongest economic recovery in modern history to what can be a period of more stable and resilient growth,” Brian Deese said.
U.S. inflation hit 8.3% last month but slows from 40-year high
On a month-to-month basis, prices rose 0.3% from March to April, a still-elevated rate but the smallest increase in eight months.
Fed set to launch fresh assault on inflation in new era for economy
Rates this year could reach their highest levels since before the 2008 Wall Street crash if surging prices continue.
Chase Strangio: Alabama Ban on Trans Youth Healthcare Is Part of Wider GOP Attack on Bodily Autonomy
Alabama has become the first U.S. state to make it a felony to provide gender-affirming medical care to trans youth. The Alabama law is the latest in a series of escalating conservative attacks on LGBTQ people in the United States.
Biden Administration Plans To Send High-Tech Rocket Systems To Ukraine
The rocket systems are part of a new $700 million tranche of security assistance that will include helicopters, Javelin anti-tank weapon systems and tactical vehicles.
Tucker Carlson Mocks BTS For Speaking Out Against Anti-Asian Hate Crimes
The Korean boy band spoke at the White House about the surge in hate crimes against Asian Americans.
News Roundup; Navarro subpoenaed by grand jury; Trump does a little dance for the gun crowd
The first funerals for children killed by a teenager wielding an AR-15 in Uvalde, Texas, took place Monday, but at last weekend’s annual convention of the National Rifle Association (NRA), the indifference was palpable. Donald Trump adviser Peter Navarro has now been subpoenaed by a grand jury after previously refusing to testify to Congress about his knowledge of the Jan.
Ukraine update: Russia is losing every day, but the cost of making them lose is painfully high
In looking at this article in the Ukrainian edition of Forbes, the biggest concern the author displays is about the consequences of losing Severodonetsk and the possibility that thousands of Ukrainian troops could be cut off and destroyed unless Ukraine pulls back in time.
Reporter who first introduced Duggars to the nation ignored myriad red flags
The bill finally came due for Josh Duggar on Wednesday. More than six months after being convicted of receiving and possessing child sex abuse material, the oldest scion of America’s most infamous babymakers (and unfit parents) was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison, followed by 20 years of supervised release. While on supervised release, Duggar will have to register as a sex offender and will not be allowed any unsupervised contact with minors—not even members of his own family.
Florida man charged with terrorism after posting pictures, alleged plan to commit school shooting
After a tragic and fatal shooting during which an 18-year-old gunman walked into an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and opened fire, murdering 19 children and two teachers, several attempted copycat incidents of other potential school shootings have been reported.
Government grapples with results of dumb COVID-19 relief decisions and the billions lost to fraud
More than two years into society and the economy being upended by a global pandemic, there are a lot of lessons to be learned if our government and specifically Congress is willing to pay attention. Just about every other economically advantaged country in the world gave everybody money to live off of, to keep people from falling through the cracks. Business owners got money to live on. Their employees got money to live on. Their landlords got money to live on. Basic needs were covered.
Sarah Palin Didn’t Supply ‘Even A Speck’ Of Proof In New York Times Lawsuit: Judge
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff denied the former Alaska governor’s request for a new trial.
Dismissal Of US Election Fraud Case Upheld By Appeals Court
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday the plaintiffs had no standing to assert that the outcome of the election “violated the constitutional rights of every registered voter in the United States.