Today's Liberal News

Thanks, Lindsey: Republicans in disarray after Graham introduces national abortion ban

Lindsey Graham was convinced he was doing his party a favor. Unnamed sources who spoke with NBC News said the proposed nationwide ban on abortion after 15 weeks that the South Carolina Republican unveiled on Tuesday would “give candidates a more popular position to point to when they are pressed about the issue.” One anonymous strategist called Graham’s bill “exactly” the right prescription, adding, “We got to do something.

Ukraine Update: The Tankies don’t have a coherent explanation as to why Russian is losing

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The situation on the ground is … hazy. Ukraine continues to mop up in Kharkiv Oblast, maybe it is attacking in Kherson Oblast, maybe it’s attacking in Luhansk, maybe Russian and proxy forces are retreating and/or deserting and/or surrendering. Let’s give it another day or two for some of the fog of war to clear. 

Instead, let’s do another check in on the Tankies.

Senate GOP is in disarray on the culture wars, which means Democrats should force them to vote

Now would be a very good time for Senate Democrats to go for the jugular and make Senate Republicans show what they really would do if they gained the majority. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina just gave them that opportunity.

If Republicans win Congress, he said in announcing his new federal abortion ban legislation, “I assure you” there will be a vote to ban abortion.

The Joy of Voting

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.Americans sometimes forget that voting is not only a right and a duty, but an experience that can make us feel better about our communities and system of government.But first, here are three new stories from The Atlantic.

Cats Give the Laws of Physics a Biiiiig Stretch

In October of 1894, at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences, the renowned physiologist Étienne-Jules Marey showed a series of photographs that sent his colleagues into collective uproar. In the flurry of accounts that followed, one conference attendee proclaimed that Marey had presented a scientific paradox that violated the fundamental laws of how objects moved.At the center of the controversy was a cat. Specifically, a dropped cat that had, in midair, twisted to land on its feet.

How to Keep Your Book Club From Becoming a Wine Club

Imagine this familiar scenario: A book club has decided to meet at an appointed time and place. A host has lit candles, set wine and cheese on a table, arranged chairs in a circle, and put on background music. The guests arrive, maybe holding hardcovers with stiff spines or library-laminated dust jackets. The room fills with chatter as attendees grab their glasses and sit. Then there’s some silence, some twiddling of thumbs, some sipping.

Julian Aguon: U.S. Militarization of Guam Is “Nothing Less Than Cataclysmic”

The geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China is reshaping life in the U.S. territory of Guam, where the already-massive military presence is set to expand as the Pentagon builds up its capabilities in the Pacific. “We are directly in the line of fire,” says Julian Aguon, a CHamoru writer and human rights lawyer, who describes the build-up of U.S. troops and military infrastructure on Guam as “nothing less than cataclysmic” for the Indigenous people.

A Very California Lesson on Just How Weird Electricity Is

Last week, Americans had a rare view into what the future might look like. It came from California, as usual, but it was not courtesy of Apple’s annual keynote, or indeed of any technology company. It came from the state’s electricity grid.Wait—wait! Don’t click away yet. Electricity is, I hasten to add, extremely interesting. It is the energy source of the future.

‘The Cure for Burnout Is Not Self-Care’

The first thing you need to know about quiet quitting is that it’s not actually quitting. Instead, the quitter keeps their job and chooses to do only the bare minimum rather than go above and beyond. The second thing you need to know is that the term is brand new, so everyone is still figuring out the rest. To cite the Oxford English Dictionary of our very online times, Google searches for quiet quitting were basically nonexistent until this past August.But now it’s everywhere.