Today's Liberal News

NATO Ramps Up Rhetoric Against China & Russia. Is Biden Leading the U.S. into a New Cold War?

China says NATO is adopting a “Cold War mentality” after the military alliance singled out China and Russia for criticism during a summit in Brussels. In its final communiqué, NATO leaders said, “China’s stated ambitions and assertive behavior present systemic challenges to the rules-based international order.” NATO leaders also criticized Russia and called on Moscow to withdraw troops from Ukraine, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova.

NSA Whistleblower Reality Winner Released from Prison as Family Pushes Biden to Pardon Her

Former National Security Agency contractor Reality Leigh Winner was released from prison Monday to serve the rest of her sentence in a halfway house. We get an update from the lawyer handling her commutation and pardon process. Winner was arrested in 2017 under the Espionage Act for leaking classified government information about Russian interference in the 2016 election to reporters at The Intercept.

News Roundup: Biden meets Putin; Fox defends insurrection with yet another conspiracy theory

In the news today: President Biden had his first meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, and it went … pretty much as expected. Senate Democrats are preparing to use reconciliation rules to push forward infrastructure spending in the face of unified Republican stonewalling. A new Republican conspiracy theory is ramping up, this one claiming that Actually, it wasn’t Trump supporters who staged the Jan. 6 insurrection, and it wasn’t antifa either.

Gay couple discovers neighbor was behind years of anonymous homophobic harassment

Anti-LGBTQ discrimination and harassment can occur on a number of levels. As most think of right away, bullying and teasing can occur between kids and teenagers while in school. Oppression can come down from the federal and state level, too, as we’re seeing with the recent slew of anti-trans legislation cropping up around the nation. People may also experience queerphobia from coworkers, family members, and even friends.

Five Georgia officers fired, denied appeal, after 60-year-old Black man dies in custody

On April 2, Savannah, Georgia police took 60-year-old William Harvey into custody for questioning in an aggravated assault investigation. At some point Harvey was left alone in the investigation room and when Savannah police returned, Harvey was dead. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation ruled Harvey’s death a suicide, saying he had asphyxiated himself with his shoelaces. The Harvey family very quickly demanded answers.

How the U.S. Made Progress on Climate Change Without Ever Passing a Bill

Here, at least, is the standard story: The past decade has been abysmal for climate-change policy in the United States. In 2009, a handsome new president took office pledging to pass a comprehensive climate bill in Congress. He did not. The Environmental Protection Agency sought to meaningfully reduce carbon pollution from power plants. It did not. The United States joined the Paris Agreement. Then we elected President Donald Trump, and we left.

Drivers Never Learn the One Lesson of Cicada Season

The story sounds ridiculous, but it’s true: A man in Ohio recently drove his car into a utility pole after a cicada flew through his open window and smacked into his face. He was fine! The car, not so much.The Brood X cicadas have certainly made their presence known over the past several weeks: their ceaseless screeching from the treetops, their slow, meandering manner of flying around, sometimes right into us.

Slouching Towards Gilead

In June 2019, Kylie Jenner shared with the world some pictures of a birthday party she’d thrown for a friend. The event had a theme: The Handmaid’s Tale. It featured guests garbed in blood-red gowns; servers dressed as “Marthas,” or women enslaved for household labor; and drinks with such names as “Under His Eye tequila” and “Praise Be vodka.” The whole thing was cringey and absurd.

Masha Gessen on the Biden-Putin Summit, Alexei Navalny & the Future of U.S.-Russia Relations

President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin are meeting in Geneva for a closely watched summit between the world’s two largest nuclear powers. Topics expected to be discussed include nuclear arms, cybersecurity, Syria, the Iranian nuclear deal, Afghanistan, Ukraine, the Korean Peninsula, Putin’s crackdown on dissent inside Russia and the U.S. military presence near the Russian border.

Her Lesson Plan Was Junk

When you pass the kindergarten at Sde Eliyahu, a kibbutz near the Jordan River in northern Israel, you might not recognize it. Instead, you’ll see a yard for castaway objects: rusty tractor parts, old computers, and orphaned bike wheels. It takes a few moments to realize that some person, or many people, has devoted thought to arranging the parts into strange structures and machines.