Today's Liberal News

Judge Approves Puerto Rico Debt Restructuring, But Unelected “Junta” Could Remain for Years Longer

In a major development, a federal judge on Tuesday approved a plan to restructure Puerto Rico’s massive debt. The proposal was presented by the territory’s U.S.-imposed Fiscal Control Board, and it reduces the biggest portion of the island’s debt, about $33 billion, by some 80%. Last year, union leaders pressured the board to remove cuts to pension plans from the current version of the debt restructuring deal.

MLK Day Special: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in His Own Words

Today is the federal holiday that honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was born January 15, 1929. He was assassinated April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 39 years old. While Dr. King is primarily remembered as a civil rights leader, he also championed the cause of the poor and organized the Poor People’s Campaign to address issues of economic justice. Dr. King was also a fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy and the Vietnam War.

Louisiana Senate candidate points out hypocrisy of marijuana laws in very blunt campaign launch

We’ve come a long way from the days of Bill “I Didn’t Inhale” Clinton and our overwrought collective freakout over ordinary and decidedly normal cannabis use. Not that long ago, video of a U.S. Senate candidate smoking weed in a field would be considered lurid oppo research. But now, at least one candidate, Gary Chambers, is featuring it in his campaign advertising. 

Now, I doubt Chambers will win.

Jim Langevin, a longtime Rhode Island Democratic congressman, announces his retirement

Rhode Island Rep. Jim Langevin, a Democrat whose 2000 win made him the first quadriplegic to ever serve in Congress, said Tuesday that he would retire from the 2nd District.

The current version of this seat, which includes part of Providence and western Rhode Island, backed Joe Biden by a 56-43 spread four years after it favored Hillary Clinton by a smaller 51-44 margin.

Famous People, by Kaitlyn Tiffany and Lizzie Plaugic, a Newsletter Starring Nobody Famous, Comes to The Atlantic

The Atlantic is launching Famous People, a newsletter by staff writer Kaitlyn Tiffany and writer and creative strategist Lizzie Plaugic. Kaitlyn and Lizzie recap the small parties, dinners, and events they attend with each other and their friends––and nobody famous.Starting today, readers can sign up and read the first edition, where Kaitlyn follows Martha Stewart’s instructions to create a “Russian Buffet for Twenty-Four” from her 1982 book, Entertaining.

Martha Stewart Must Know Something We Don’t

Sign up for Kaitlyn and Lizzie’s newsletter here. Kaitlyn: A few months ago, my friend Stephanie found a copy of Martha Stewart’s 1982 book, Entertaining, on a stoop in Brooklyn and gave it to me at my birthday breakfast. This book is amazing.

Who Is Aafia Siddiqui? Synagogue Attack Renews Focus on Pakistani Neuroscientist Imprisoned in Texas

During Saturday’s synagogue attack in Colleyville, Texas, the gunman Malik Faisal Akram repeatedly called for the release of Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui, who is serving an 86-year sentence in a U.S. federal prison located just miles from the synagogue. Siddiqui was convicted in 2010 on charges that she intended to kill U.S. military officers while being detained in Afghanistan two years earlier. However, many questions remain unanswered about her time in U.S.

Texas Rabbi: Despite False Media Narratives, Synagogue Attack Brought Jewish & Muslim Communities Together

On Saturday, an armed British man named Malik Faisal Akram took a rabbi and three congregants hostage at a synagogue outside of Fort Worth, Texas, resulting in an 11-hour standoff that ended once the rabbi threw a chair at Akram, who was later shot dead by the police. The standoff — which left all four hostages unharmed — has been identified by President Biden and federal authorities as an antisemitic act of terror.

“There Must Be a Moral Shift”: Bishop Barber Calls on Democrats to Pass Voting Rights, Protect Poor

Senate Democratic leadership insists they will debate two critical voting rights bills even though Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have publicly denounced their party’s plan to make changes to Senate filibuster rules that would give Democrats the votes needed to pass the landmark legislation. Meanwhile, thousands marched in support of the legislation and the necessary filibuster rule changes in Washington, D.C.