FDA approval of Pfizer Covid shot could come next week
The decision would apply to people 16 and older. Officials hope it will convince some vaccine holdouts to get inoculated.
Today's Liberal News
Dear Care and Feeding: I Can’t Believe What Comes Out of My 6-Year-Old’s Mouth
Parenting advice on inappropriate comments, frugal shopping, and talking about skin color.
Afghans Photographed Handing Babies Over Barbed Wire To Soldiers At Airport
At least one of the children was taken to a medical treatment facility by U.S. Marines and has been reunited with family.
The Pandemic Boosted Black Home-School Rates. Could They Keep Rising?
Even as pandemic restrictions subside, many Black families are seeing unique benefits from home-based learning.
Jeff Bezos Needs NASA to Listen to Him
In the summer of 2019, Jeff Bezos appeared at a space symposium marking the anniversary of the first moon landing. Fifty years had passed since that historic achievement, and Bezos marveled at how quickly NASA had once moved to select the manufacturer for its lunar lander. “Today there would be three protests,” he said, referring to contractors’ appeals of NASA decisions, “and the losers would sue the federal government because they didn’t win.
There’s No Time for Small Talk in Middle Age
Each installment of “The Friendship Files” features a conversation between The Atlantic’s Julie Beck and two or more friends, exploring the history and significance of their relationship.This week she speaks with the actors Jessica St. Clair and June Diane Raphael, who co-host The Deep Dive, a podcast that explores their friendship and adult womanhood.
The Books Briefing: How Fan Fiction Reimagines the Writing Process
When The Last Jedi came out, some viewers had déjà vu: Certain aspects of the movie’s plot were strikingly similar to the events in several popular stories on the fan-fiction site Archive of Our Own. The coincidence may seem strange, but in many ways it’s unsurprising that the people who were thinking most deeply about a franchise—its creators and devotees alike—would come to the same conclusions about each character’s fate.
Spencer Ackerman on How the U.S. War on Terror Fueled and Excused Right-Wing Extremism at Home
As Republicans raise concerns that Biden’s withdrawal of U.S. troops will turn Afghanistan “back to a pre-9/11 state — a breeding ground for terrorism,” Pulitzer Prize-winning national security reporter Spencer Ackerman lays out how the U.S. war on terror after the September 2001 attacks actually fueled white, right-wing extremism. Ackerman says U.S.
Biden Is Betting Americans Will Forget About Afghanistan
Call it the White House’s dream scenario: In the end, the voters don’t blame Joe Biden. The president’s withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan simply aligns him with everyone else who has given up on the notion that the military could mold a fractious country into a stable democratic ally.
Spencer Ackerman: Today’s Crisis in Kabul Is Direct Result of Decades of U.S. War & Destabilization
As thousands of Afghans try to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control, we look at the roots of the longest U.S. war in history and spend the hour with Pulitzer Prize-winning national security reporter Spencer Ackerman.
The Remote Work–Fertility Connection
Last year was a blur for Miranda Turner, but she remembers the day her kids’ school shut down like it was yesterday. On a Friday in March 2020, Arlington Public Schools, in Virginia, announced that it would close the following Monday because of the newly circulating coronavirus, sending working parents like Turner scrambling to figure out what to do with their kids.
I Want to Make Sure My Girlfriend’s Daughter Doesn’t Get a Penny When I Die
And I would rather they find out after I’m gone.
The Stock Market Is Still Weird From GameStop
From literally pantsless CEOs to the Reddit mob’s muscle, we’re still living in the meme-stock moment.
Used Car Prices Have Finally Run Out of Gas
A good sign for anyone freaking out about inflation (or shopping for a CRV).
Biden will require vaccines for staff at federally funded nursing homes
It’s the first time the White House has used the threat of holding back federal funding to boost vaccination rates.
The U.S. plans to offer booster shots next month. Some health experts are wary.
Officials said data showing decline in vaccines’ protection against the Delta variant prompted the decision.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tests positive for Covid
The Republican governor, who is fully vaccinated, is not currently experiencing any symptoms.
A Realtor Explains Why There Is a Very Strange Visitor in This Home’s Zillow Listing
“His suit is all period-specific between about 490 and 510 A.D.
I Judge Men During Sex in the Worst Way Possible. How Do I Stop?
I wouldn’t want them to do this to me!
U.S. jobless claims near pandemic low as economy strengthens
Thursday’s report from the Labor Department showed that jobless claims fell to 375,000 from 387,000 the previous week.
House Dem campaign chief warns the majority at risk without message reboot
“We’re not trying to hide this,” the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s executive director said.
Biden’s economic gains come with newer worries about the future
Some economists have already begun to ease back on forecasts for the rest of this year.
U.S. economy surpasses prepandemic size with 6.5% Q2 growth
The growth is another sign that the nation has achieved a sustained recovery from the pandemic recession.
Virus resurgence menaces economy just as rescue programs unravel
A new wave of cases followed by the looming expiration of enhanced jobless benefits, a ban on evictions and other rescue programs is sparking concern among lawmakers and economists.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott Tests Positive for Coronavirus After Banning Mask & Vaccine Mandates
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has tested positive for the coronavirus, just one day after he attended a packed indoor Republican event in Dallas, where he and most attendees were unmasked. Abbott, who said he was not showing symptoms of COVID-19, imposed a statewide ban on vaccine and mask mandates last month, though a judge later blocked the ban on mask mandates.
Mike Lindell Is Hiding A County Clerk Amid FBI Probe Of A Vote Data Leak: Report
As the FBI joins an investigation into claims Colorado voting machine passwords were given to a QAnon leader, the clerk is reportedly at a secret safe house.
News Roundup: Far-right terrorism in the capital; Republican election schemes move forward
In the news today: Another incident of far-right political terrorism in Washington, D.C., this time from a man claiming to have planted multiple bombs in the city. Republican seditionist Rep. Mo Brooks quickly weighed in to say he “understand[s] citizenry anger directed at dictatorial Socialism,” since “America’s future is at risk.
Advocate for Afghan translators says Trump administration ‘purposely destroyed’ visa program
Don’t get me wrong. Joe Biden isn’t perfect. His administration’s assumption that the Afghan government’s security forces would put up more than nominal resistance to the Taliban appears to have been disastrously wrong—though, luckily, many of the people who need and deserve safe passage from the country are now being taken care of.
Donald J. Trump pardoned a cyberstalker, but failed to grasp he didn’t have that power
Donald J. Trump took time out of his schedule to issue a pardon for a friend of his son in law, Jared Kushner. Ken Kurson, the friend in question, was facing the reality of potential federal charges for cyberstalking. Kurson had installed spyware on his wife’s computer in order to monitor, harass, and capture her communication—acts that constitute crimes under federal statute.
I’m a Little Worried About How My Wife Will React When She Realizes What’s Turning Me on These Days
She’s already participating, unbeknownst to her.