Today's Liberal News

Black FedEx driver says he was shot at; suspects charged only with conspiracy and damage to van

Civil rights attorneys are advocating for harsher charges to be brought against two white men arrested on suspicion of chasing and shooting at a Black FedEx driver in Mississippi. Brandon Case and his father, Gregory Case, were arrested last Tuesday and released the same day on bond, The Associated Press reported. They face charges of shooting into a vehicle and conspiracy stemming from an incident on  Jan. 24 in Brookhaven, which is about 56 miles south of Jackson.

QAnon Chronicles: Somehow, the JFK Jr. conspiracy crew got even weirder

The Qronicles is a series that will collect some of the news, videos, and general mis/dis-information roiling around the conspiracy world of QAnon. You can cringe, you can laugh, but these folks are organizing and showing up at the polls!

This Qronicles we are going to try to collect together some of the QAnon world’s stories over the past couple of weeQs (see what I did there?). There are QAnon folks pleading guilty for participating in the Jan.

The Paradox of Sour Food

When researchers consider the classic five categories of taste—sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami—there’s little disagreement over which of them is the least understood. Creatures crave sweet for sugar and calories. A yen for umami, or savoriness, keeps many animals nourished with protein. Salt’s essential for bodies to stay in fluid balance, and for nerve cells to signal. And a sensitivity to bitterness can come in handy with the whole not-poisoning-yourself thing.

These Animals Are Feasting on the Ruins of an Extinct World

Karasik, the largest underwater mountain in the Arctic, was meant to be dead. Volcanically, it is. But biologically, it’s home to a teeming community of creatures, surviving in an environment with barely any food, through means that no one expected.The mountain lies 300 kilometers from the North Pole, at a ridge where the tectonic plates that hold Europe and North America are slowly drifting apart.

The NFL’s Black Coaches Should Stop Playing Along

In a damning 58-page class-action lawsuit against the NFL, Brian Flores presents screenshots of a text-message exchange that crystallizes the dilemma Black coaches routinely find themselves in: They’re supposed to play along with a hiring system that officially requires teams to consider minority candidates for top jobs but that, in practice, is plainly biased against them.

Hunger-Striking Teachers Say Oakland Plan to Close Schools Will Hurt Black & Brown Communities

We go to Oakland, where a group of teachers are on a hunger strike to protest a plan to close and merge over a dozen schools due to under-enrollment. This comes ahead of a critical school board vote Tuesday that will decide whether to proceed with the plan. Activists argue the move threatens to divert resources to charter schools and displace hundreds of Black and Brown children from their neighborhood schools.

Policing on Trial: Attorney Ben Crump on Fed Case Against Three Cops Involved in George Floyd Murder

The Minneapolis judge who signed the no-knock warrant that led to the fatal police shooting of 22-year-old Black man Amir Locke also presided over the trial of Derek Chauvin, the ex-police officer convicted for the murder of George Floyd. The trial of three officers facing lesser charges — Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng — is currently underway after being delayed when one of the defendants tested positive for COVID.

Cover-Up in Minneapolis? Police “Executed” Amir Locke in “No-Knock” Raid, Say His Parents, Activists

Protests are continuing in Minneapolis after police fatally shot 22-year-old Amir Locke during an early-morning “no-knock” raid on February 2. Bodycam video shows that Locke appeared to be asleep on the couch and wrapped in a blanket when a SWAT team entered the apartment. Locke held a gun he was legally licensed to carry, and was not named in the warrant.

In Pursuit of Happiness: The Atlantic Releases March Issue and Announces Spring Event on Building a More Meaningful Life

In a moment when happiness has felt elusive for many, The Atlantic is giving readers the framework to orient themselves toward joy and build a more meaningful life with its March issue, themed “How to Find Happiness,” and the launch of an immersive, two-and-a-half-day event to be held this spring. The event, titled In Pursuit of Happiness, will be held from May 1-3 in Half Moon Bay, California. Ticketing is now open for a limited in-person audience.

Wave of Coups Disrupts Africa as U.S.-Trained Soldiers Play Key Role in Overthrowing Governments

The African Union is condemning a wave of coups in Africa, where military forces have seized power over the past 18 months in Mali, Chad, Guinea, Sudan and, most recently, in January, Burkina Faso. Several were led by U.S.-trained officers as part of a growing U.S. military presence in the region under the guise of counterterrorism, which is a new imperial influence that supplements the history of French colonialism, says Brittany Meché, assistant professor at Williams College.

Ex-Chicago Cop Jason Van Dyke Freed Early over Murdering Laquan McDonald; Activists Seek Fed Charges

We go to Chicago, where protests erupted Thursday over the early release of the white ex-police officer Jason Van Dyke, who was convicted of killing a Black 17-year-old named Laquan McDonald in 2014. Van Dyke — who was the first police officer in the United States to be charged with murder for an on-duty shooting — was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison but was freed early for “good behavior” after only serving a little over three years of his sentence.

News roundup: Trump broke another law, Pence needs to cooperate with the Jan. 6 committee

In the news today: Another day, another law that Trump ignored—this time it was the Presidential Records Act; Pence should want to cooperate with the Jan. 6 committee, but he probably won’t; Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, surprising no one, is a jackass; President Joe Biden takes another step to empower unions; and school boards may ban books, but they can’t ban determination.

‘We’re all making choices today’: Yes, Gov. Youngkin—and suffering the consequences

“We’re all making choices today” was the ineffectual (originally written as “effete”) response Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin gave to a woman in Alexandria, Virginia, when she called him out on not wearing a mask in a grocery store. She replied, “Read the room, buddy!” Alexandria is one of the seven school districts that won a stay on Youngkin’s executive order lifting the wearing of masks in public schools.

BIPOC educators say Florida’s Stop WOKE Act censors them from teaching history

This article was originally published at Prism

Teaching certain parts of history in Florida may be subject to a lawsuit next school year. Teachers in Florida face another set of legislations that will censor their work in the classroom. The Individual Freedom Act, which recently received approval from the state Senate Education Committee, will make it illegal for public school students to feel “discomfort” when they are taught about race.