Today's Liberal News

News Roundup: Three guilty in Arbery murder; Jan. 6 planners had secret contact with Mark Meadows

In the news today: A jury found three men guilty of murdering Ahmaud Arbery. Rolling Stone is now reporting that the organizers of the Jan. 6 rally that resulted in violence inside the U.S. Capitol were in contact with Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and with Eric and Lara Trump in the days immediately before the riot—and that organizers bought and used hard-to-trace “burner phones” in an attempt to hide the communications.

Trump’s latest toxic grudge is even dumber than usual

The most egregious story I’ve ever heard about Donald Trump—and, granted, there’s an embarrassment of riches to choose from—is the one about his stripping health coverage away from his gravely ill infant nephew … out of spite.

This story was fairly widely reported before the 2016 election, which seriously makes me wonder what people imagined about Hillary Clinton that could have possibly been worse than that.

Why is Joe Biden smiling? History is on his side

Presidents are kind of like NFL quarterbacks: They get too much credit when their team wins and too much blame when they lose. Rightly or wrongly, U.S. presidents tend to be the face of whatever’s happening in the country over a given snapshot of time.

It was a rough summer for Joe Biden, and his problems have persisted well into the fall.

The Washington Post’s opinion page hits rock bottom

News outlets under the First Amendment have a tremendous amount of leeway, and, of course, they should. They should be entitled to print diverse, conflicting, even vehemently oppositional views, and they shouldn’t be concerned about how many people might disagree with any given viewpoint they choose to print. Hell, that’s why we’re all here on Daily Kos.

So, I have a confession to make about cooking and Kamala Harris

I have a confession to make. It’s a big one, so bear with me. I like to cook, something I’ve already said in Connect, Unite, Act here on Daily Kos. I talk about it and think about it. Even when I’m with others, I tend to swap recipes. Recently, I’ve had a lot to think about in terms of how hunger has so often made a big impact on how I react—impulsively, I will grab food, decide to cook, or just make changes as I go because, well, I like doing it.

The System Only Worked Because It Was Pushed

The men who killed Ahmaud Arbery will not get away with it. Yet the most surprising aspect of the trial is not the verdict, but the fact that the trial happened at all.On Wednesday, a Georgia jury convicted Travis McMichael; his father, Gregory McMichael; and their friend William Bryan of felony offenses after the trio chased down and then shot Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia, in February of last year.

The Loss at the Heart of Guy Fieri’s Entertainment Empire

In 2007, in one of the first episodes of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Guy Fieri visited Patrick’s Roadhouse, a railway-station-turned-restaurant in Santa Monica, California. The diner’s chef, Silvio Moreira, walked Fieri through the preparation of one of Patrick’s most notable dishes, the Rockefeller—a burger topped with mushrooms, sour cream, jack cheese, and … caviar.

Thanksgiving? In This Economy?

Jayson Lusk’s Thanksgiving tradition, if you could call it that, is to talk with reporters about the prices of Americans’ holiday groceries. The media requests “seemed to start even earlier this year than usual,” Lusk, an agricultural economist at Purdue University, told me recently. “But it’s a more interesting story this year.”That’s because the ingredients for Thanksgiving dinner are significantly more expensive than they were 12 months ago.

“Furious and Disgusted”: Teen Survivor Speaks Out After Wealthy White Serial Rapist Gets Probation

The survivor of a serial rapist who received probation joins us to speak out after a New York judge sparked international outrage when he ruled it is inappropriate to jail the man who attacked her. Christopher Belter pleaded guilty to raping and sexually assaulting her along with three other teenage girls age 15 and 16, but he will avoid serving time in prison, and instead receive 8 years of probation.

“Why Are Ahmaud Arbery’s Killers So Scared?”: Self-Defense Claims by White Attackers Seen As Racist

Update on Nov. 24: Jurors on Wednesday afternoon returned guilty verdicts against all three of the white men charged with killing 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery in February 2020. Travis McMichael fired the fatal shots and was convicted on all counts, including the charge of malice murder. His father Gregory McMichael, a former police officer, and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan were convicted of felony murder and other charges.

Can You Bankrupt White Supremacy? Jury Holds Charlottesville Organizers Liable for $26M in Damages

A federal jury has ordered a group of white supremacists to pay over $26 million in damages for their role in organizing the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. “Is bankrupting these organizations, is bankrupting these individuals enough to actually stop the growing threat … of white supremacy and Nazism in the United States?” asks Slate senior editor Nicole Lewis. “I don’t think so.

Dramatic Video Shows Militarized Canadian Police Raid Wet’suwet’en Land Defenders & Journalists

We feature dramatic video footage just released that shows a violent raid Friday by Canadian federal police on one of the camps set up to keep Coastal GasLink out of sovereign Indigenous territory. Fifteen people in total were arrested, including two journalists. Wet’suwet’en land defender Sleydo’, also known as Molly Wickham, has now been released. The new footage was filmed by documentary filmmaker Michael Toledano, who was also just released.

Let’s Talk About Brines. No, Not That Kind.

Ed Rivera-Valentín has spent quite a bit of time thinking about brines recently. The particular ratio of salt to water in the marinade. The special ingredients that can give things an extra kick.I am referring, of course, to the salty solutions that are found across our solar system, on planets and moons and even asteroids. These would be no good on a Thanksgiving turkey, but they might be one of the most intriguing substances in the search for alien life.

Why Biden picked Powell

In the end, President Joe Biden did what many close to him expected: He took a longer-than-anticipated amount of time to arrive at a reasonable, moderate decision that thrilled few but carried limited risk.

Anthony Huber Was a Hero: Victim of Kyle Rittenhouse Remembered for Trying to Save Lives At Protest

The parents of Anthony Huber, one of two men killed by Kyle Rittenhouse, say they are heartbroken and angry over the jury’s Friday verdict, and argue it failed to deliver justice for any of Rittenhouse’s victims. In a statement Friday, they said: “Make no mistake: our fight to hold those responsible for Anthony’s death accountable continues in full force.

“In Our DNA”: Jacob Blake’s Father & Uncle on the Family’s Long History of Racial Justice Activism

Jacob Blake Sr., whose son was shot by Kenosha police in 2020 and left partially paralyzed, says the family is part of a larger movement fighting for victims of police violence and racial injustice. “We were always pro-Black activists and then after this happened to my son, we’ve become activists for everyone who’s been affected,” he says. The Blake family has a long history of activism going back to the civil rights movement and beyond.