Today's Liberal News

News Roundup: More charges for Chauvin; GOP can’t defend anti-trans bill; Gaetz’s pimp talks

It’s Friday! Another long week filled with news of our country’s march towards normalcy and beyond! The Republican Party continues its attempts to thwart legislation that might actually improve Americans’ lives. As we head into another weekend, there’s always hope because there is a competent administration in office, and as of today, the Republican death cult has no control over the legislative branch.

Another Kansas Republican legislator arrested, this time for misdemeanor battery

The Kansas GOP continues to find the back seat of a police car a comfortable location for their elected officials. Yesterday, Rep. Mark Samsel was arrested on school grounds for misdemeanor battery. The Sunflower State Journal reported the details today. The school district is unable to comment further beyond acknowledging the event happened in an arts class for which Samsel was the substitute.

Running for Virginia governor: ‘Black women saved the country—but have never been allowed to lead’

This is the second in a series of interviews with Democratic candidates for governor of Virginia.

“Black women have done the hard work of building and saving this country from itself, time and time again.” The steel I heard in state Sen. Jennifer McClellan’s voice was unmistakable. We had spent the last half-hour on the phone, discussing her campaign for governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

A Year Without Germs

Sales of alcohol surged in 2020, especially among the higher-proof varieties. But one type far outsold the others: hand sanitizer.In the heat of the pandemic, Purell poured some $400 million into expanding its production. As anyone who resorted to bootleg hand sanitizer knows, the company came nowhere close to meeting demand.

The Books Briefing: How to be Happy

The debate over what happiness is, and how to achieve it, goes back thousands of years: As Arthur Brooks, an Atlantic contributing writer, points out, the Greek philosopher Epicurus believed that happiness involved freedom from mental disturbance and the absence of physical pain. In the Stoic school of thought, happiness could be found only in a virtuous life.

The Unspoken Wedge Between Parents and Grandparents

Martin parr / Magnum photos
One of the sweetest parts of being a grandparent is being invited by your own adult children to spend time with your grandkids. But the invitation comes with a few conditions, and in even the most loving families, grandparents ignore these rules on a regular basis.

The First ‘Real Friend’ You Make After College Is Special

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 talks with Alyssa and Emily, who met at their first job out of college and then moved in together during the pandemic.

“A Threshold Crossed”: Israel Is Guilty of Apartheid, Human Rights Watch Says for First Time

A major new report by Human Rights Watch says for the first time that Israel is committing crimes of apartheid and persecution in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The international human rights group says Israeli authorities dispossessed, confined and forcibly separated Palestinians. “For years, prominent voices have warned that apartheid lurked just around the corner.

The Hot-Person Vaccine

I hope we can all agree that “vaccine culture” is a bit depressing. The idea of wearing an evening gown to a COVID-19-vaccine appointment is objectively sad, and speaking from personal experience, taking an hour-long bus ride to a CVS at the dead center of Staten Island, New York, for medical treatment is not fun or exciting except by dramatic contrast to events prior.And when vaccine culture isn’t dismal, it can get extremely weird.