Today's Liberal News

‘One Oppressive Economy Begets Another’

Sharon Lavigne was teaching a special-education class when her daughter called to tell her about the Sunshine Project. Named for its proximity to Louisiana’s Sunshine Bridge, the operation, helmed by the Taiwanese behemoth Formosa Plastics, was on track to build one of the world’s largest plastic plants. Already the air Lavigne breathed in her native St. James Parish was some of the most toxic in the United States. Now Formosa planned to spend $9.

The Unfolding Disaster in Arizona

Of all the flaws in the perplexing “audit” of the 2020 election in Maricopa County, Arizona, the hypocrisy shines through most clearly.As Donald Trump and his allies grasped at straws to cast doubt on the results of last year’s presidential race, they settled on a few common complaints.

The GOP’s ‘Critical Race Theory’ Obsession

On January 12, Keith Ammon, a Republican member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, introduced a bill that would bar schools as well as organizations that have entered into a contract or subcontract with the state from endorsing “divisive concepts.” Specifically, the measure would forbid “race or sex scapegoating,” questioning the value of meritocracy, and suggesting that New Hampshire—or the United States—is “fundamentally racist.

Walden Bello Warns of U.S. Warmongering as Tensions Escalate in South China Sea

China topped the agenda Tuesday when foreign ministers from G7 nations met in London. This comes as both China and the United States are accusing each other of escalating tensions in the South China Sea. Last week, the Chinese government claimed there has been a 40% increase of activity by U.S. planes in Chinese-claimed areas since Biden took office. Critics increasingly argue Biden’s policies on China are risk sparking a new Cold War.

News Roundup: Pandemic relief in sight; Fox News has a body count; Ron DeSantis sucks up

In the news today: While the hoped-for “herd immunity” is still in doubt, vaccinations are still expected to make serious headway against the COVID-19 pandemic within the next few months. But will Fox News let it happen? A U.S. Capitol police officer beaten severely by insurrectionists is still pleading with Republican lawmakers to stop downplaying the attack that led to at least five deaths. And Florida’s Gov.

How should living museums like Colonial Williamsburg depict Black history? It’s complicated

I grew up next to Colonial Williamsburg, which is an entire town preserved to resemble the 18th century. Started by John D. Rockefeller in the 1930s, it was created to immerse people during the founding era of our nation’s history—at least, the sanitized version. Although half the population was Black, their experience was entirely ignored. Slave quarters simply didn’t exist, and the white historical actors weren’t even allowed to mention slavery.

Podcast: Long COVID Questions Answered

What explains the strange constellation of symptoms that is “long COVID?” Will it ever go away? And why does vaccination seem to help? Writer F.T. Kola returns to the podcast Social Distance to recount her experience with long COVID with hosts James Hamblin and Maeve Higgins.They’re also joined by Dr. Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist investigating long COVID at her Yale lab.

This Week in Statehouse Action: May Sours edition

You know the old saw: April showers bring … well, pretty things the next month.

Except that here in the world of statehouse action, GOP-controlled legislatures keep making things pretty ugly.

But yay, it’s May! … which means that a lot of state legislatures will be wrapping their business this month or next.

Here’s what one of them in particular is getting up to before heading home.

In Florida, Republican Gov.

Right-wing fraudsters Wohl and Burkman in big trouble as their racist emails surface

The seemingly never-ending saga of Republican fraudsters Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman continues. These two losers have not stopped hitting new lows since coming on the scene as two-bit versions of already two-bit scam artists like Donald Trump and his “garbage can orbit.” They continue to make news because even though their actions would confine most other Americans to sentence after sentence in prison, they remain relatively free to continue to defraud the American public.