Today's Liberal News

America’s Energy Security Is Falling Apart

For the past few decades, whenever a geopolitical crisis or market tumult has led to higher oil prices, policy makers in the United States have generally followed the same playbook.First, they try to get more oil on the market as soon as they can. That almost invariably has meant asking Saudi Arabia, which geology has blessed with the world’s most agile oil reserves and which the U.S. has blessed with several billion dollars in weapons, to pump and sell more petroleum.

The Slasher Film X Is a Modern Classic

A month ago, another installment in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series was released, an attempt to modernize the horror franchise while still harkening back to its gritty 1970s roots. It was a creative failure, too reliant on digitally enhanced gore and thudding callbacks. The task of matching an all-time classic seemed impossible.

Republicans Think They Can Win the COVID Funding Fight

If a new coronavirus variant surges in the United States this year—perhaps the one currently tearing through Europe—there’s a reasonable chance that the country will be unprepared to fight it. You can thank Congress for that.Last week, lawmakers passed a massive spending bill without any additional funding for COVID-19 relief, despite White House pleas for more. Democrats would like to fulfill the administration’s request.

U.S. Accuses Russia of Using Cluster Bombs in Ukraine as Both Refuse to Endorse International Ban

President Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal for the first time Wednesday for atrocities in Ukraine, as the House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing on whether Russian forces have been using cluster munitions in populated areas in Ukraine. Cluster bombs explode in midair and spew hundreds of smaller “bomblets.” The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said their use in Ukraine may amount to war crimes.

Syrian Activist Condemns Russia for Targeting Civilians & Hospitals from Aleppo to Mariupol

As the war in Ukraine enters its fourth week, Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have increasingly attacked civilian areas to pound Ukrainian cities into submission, a strategy Russia has employed to devastating effect in Syria, where the Russian Air Force has bombed many cities to rubble in an effort to support the government of Bashar al-Assad since entering the war in 2015.

Ukraine update: No, media, it’s not a ‘strategic pause’ anymore, Russia is just stuck

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This map shows us the gains by each side in the last seven days. Red are Russian gains, blue are Ukrainian gains. 

If you’re wondering, yeah, that’s pretty much nothing. Russia consolidated some territory northwest of Kyiv, while Ukraine pushed Russia out of western Kyiv suburbs. There were offensives reported there last few days, and looks like they did good work—important because it pushes Russia outside of artillery range of central Kyiv.

News Roundup: More GOP voter fraud; a win for the environment; SCOTUS fights off Republican racism

Hello all you Friday folks. It’s been another week following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Whether or not a peace can be negotiated in the near future remains to be seen. At the same time, the Biden administration got some good news about the tools with which they hope to create better environmental policy, but also continue to feel the well-deserved pressure to get more done from Democratic officials facing upcoming elections.

Even Republicans are pointing out that Madison Cawthorn’s anti-Ukraine rants are a bad look

On Thursday, the House voted 424-8 to suspend normal trade relations with Russia in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine. Congress rarely achieves that kind of consensus on anything, unless the vote is for not telling Ted Cruz about the weekly after-work happy hour, but Ukraine’s plight has united Americans—on both sides of the aisle—like nothing else in years.

Biden administration releases orphaned well guidance in bid to address rampant methane emissions

The Biden administration on Thursday released its draft guidance on addressing the more than 130,000 orphaned oil wells across the country—a number the government admits reflects a massive undercounting of wells whose former operators cannot be located. The guidance includes what is required when states apply for initial grants, such as detailed budget proposals and disclosure of any lobbying activities, along with best practices like state plugging standards.