Americans aren’t making as many babies as they used to. Last year, 3.6 million were born—the lowest count since 1979. The pandemic “baby bust” could push 2021’s tally down even further; researchers have estimated that the coronavirus and its economic impact could lead to about 300,000 fewer births in the United States this year.News of declining birth rates is not always a bad thing.
Eras of music are commonly defined by particular sounds. The ’80s had gated reverb, the aughts had Timbaland’s beats, and the early 2020s have had the froggy, rasping splendor of Doja Cat’s voice. On a slew of recent hits and on her new, third album, Planet Her, the 25-year-old rapper and singer continues to prove she has an extremely now sensibility: steeped in online humor, thrilled by physical pleasure, and adaptable to whatever sound or situation gets thrown at her.
An international human rights commission has arrived in Colombia to investigate the right-wing government’s brutal crackdown on protesters after a general strike was called in April. More than 80 people have died since the protests began, with many killed by police and paramilitary forces.
Democratic Congressmember Ro Khanna, the chair of the House Oversight Subcommittee on the Environment, has announced plans to ask the CEOs of Exxon and other fossil fuel companies to testify before the committee about their role in blocking congressional action to address the climate emergency.
A former U.S.-trained Honduran military officer and businessman has been found guilty of plotting the assassination of Berta Cáceres, the award-winning Lenca land and water defender killed in 2016. The Honduran Supreme Court ruled unanimously that David Castillo, the former president of the hydroelectric corporation DESA, was a co-perpetrator in Cáceres’s murder.
Parenting advice on gaming, racism, and tiger moms.
I made up to $2,000 a week—and got a different kind of education.
Driven underground during the pandemic, online abortion providers say they’ll keep supplying pills and services even if the Supreme Court approves state bans.
The company allegedly went to incredible lengths to avoid paying taxes on a top employee’s compensation.
June was the biggest month for hiring since August 2020.
“It’s really sad and tragic,” he said.
Democrats worry that murky conclusions that don’t identify the origin of the virus could play into the Republicans’ hands.
Exhausted by backlash over pandemic restrictions, some faith leaders see little upside in urging skeptical congregants to get vaccinated.
Nearly 25 percent of recent infections have been linked to Delta, up from 6 percent in early June.
I’m concerned it will become something else if the boundaries blur.
Parenting advice on adult children, COVID vaccines, and abusive relatives.
Americans are hitting the road as strong economic growth pushes up oil prices, and Republicans are trying to pin pump prices on Biden’s energy policies.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank still expects rising inflation to subside in the coming months but underscored that he will be watching the data to see if that’s wrong.
A continued inflation spike could make it a lot harder for the president to push through trillions of dollars in additional federal spending.
Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has announced she is deploying 50 members of the South Dakota National Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border at the request of Texas Governor Greg Abbott. In an extraordinary twist, the deployment is being paid for by billionaire Republican megadonor Willis Johnson, who lives in Tennessee.
Resistance to construction of the Enbridge Line 3 tar sands pipeline continues in northern Minnesota, where more than a dozen water protectors this week locked themselves to construction vehicles at two worksites, and to the pipeline itself. Just last month, 179 people were arrested when thousands shut down an Enbridge pumping station for two days as part of the Treaty People Gathering.
A Patriot Front march in Philly didn’t go the way the group hoped when they had to flee angry counter-protesters.
Susan Del Percio said the “wackiest wackies” will win GOP primaries… but will ultimately cost the party seats in Congress.
Sure, “hate” is a strong word. But as applied to food, it can be entirely appropriate. Food, after all, is an essential part of life and it can inspire serious physical reactions—for good or bad. You don’t have to be a picky eater to have one food you really, really can’t eat (for reasons other than health).
It’s a holiday weekend, so let’s chat.
I happen to live in a place—San Juan Island in the far Pacific Northwest—that gets tons of tourists, especially on big holiday weekends like the Fourth of July. And one of the places that is most visited on the island by those tourists is in the photo above: Lime Kiln Point Lighthouse, on the island’s western side.
It’s one of my of my favorite places on the planet.
Rupert Murdoch “owes himself a better legacy than a news channel that no reasonable person would believe,” Preston Padden wrote.
If you’ve been paying attention, you know that due to a legal technicality, Bill Cosby will be released from prison today. I could speak about the way the technicalities work and the fact that basically the wealthy get one kind of justice and the poor do not, though not as eloquently as others. There have been plenty of poor people who were convicted that did not have the access to premier legal counsel that would look for technical mistakes in the same way.
