Today's Liberal News
Dear Care and Feeding: I Feel Incredible Resentment Toward My MIL. How Can I Let It Go?
Parenting advice on MILs, toxic masculinity, and postpartum anxiety.
Biden’s budget blowout predicts years of Obama-level tepid growth
Some analysts suggested that the administration is essentially admitting that its proposed surge in federal spending won’t actually boost the economy much at all.
A Biden-friendly economist is creating a big headache for president’s spending plans
The study adds fuel to an intense national debate about what is behind a suspected worker shortage and what policy changes are needed to accelerate Americans’ return to work as the pandemic subsides.
Tax the rich? Executives predict Biden’s big plans will flop
Corporate executives and lobbyists say they are confident they can kill almost all of these tax hikes by pressuring moderate Democrats in the House and Senate.
Biden pressed to send clear message on economy as warning signs flash
The White House’s reaction to unexpected jobs and price data has opened the administration up to GOP attacks.
Lockdown mentality still holding the economy back, banking official says
Neel Kashkari of the Minneapolis Fed says things should get better as people overcome fears related to the pandemic.
“There Are Many Others”: 215 Bodies Found at Canadian Residential School for Indigenous Children
The Canadian government is facing pressure to declare a national day of mourning after the bodies of 215 children were found in British Columbia on the grounds of a school for Indigenous children who were forcibly separated from their families by the government. The bodies were discovered at the Kamloops Indian Residential School, which opened in 1890 and closed in the late 1970s.
Trump’s Justice Department Secretly Seized Phone Records Of NYT Reporters
New York Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet said the act “profoundly undermines press freedom.
News Roundup: Scholars warn democracy is in danger; voting rights legislation remains stalled
In the news today: A Senate parliamentarian ruling appears to sharply limit new reconciliation options, giving Republicans a boost in their efforts to block new infrastructure spending. 100 scholars issue a public warning that Republican actions are putting the nation’s democracy at dire risk. And Joe Biden singles out two Democratic senators who continue to protect a Senate tradition long used to sabotage civil and voting rights.
White House weighs sending states’ unused vaccine doses abroad — before they expire
Some spare Covid-19 vaccine doses — including tens of thousands of Johnson & Johnson shots — are set to expire at the end of this month.
One hundred scholars submit a dire warning about the future of American democracy
I wanted to write about this simply because I didn’t want it to be overlooked. You can make of it what you will. I know what I make of it, and it’s disturbing. As reported by Summer Concepcion, forTalkingPointsMemo:
More than 100 democracy scholars called on Congress to pass national level voting rights legislation as an increasing number of GOP-led state legislatures work to implement restrictive laws at the state level in a statement issued Tuesday.
Elementary school teacher on leave after rallying against trans-inclusive pronoun policy for kids
During a school board meeting on May 25, 2021, an elementary school physical education teacher in Loudoun County, Virginia, opposed a policy that would require teachers to use student’s correct pronouns. Some outlets—and people—may refer to these as “preferred pronouns,” in that they differ from the sex one was assigned at birth. However, they really are just pronouns, and the correct ones, at that.
Big bosses, please let your employees keep working remotely. Micromanagement is not the wave
A Georgia woman who was asked to drive into work for a six-minute meeting took the kind of leap of faith many only wish they can take. Portia Twidt got dressed, took her two children to day care, and drove into the office like she was required to do, but then she quit, Bloomberg reported. “I had just had it,” she told the news site.
90% of Americans believe they’re above average when it comes to spotting fake news
If I were to tell you that Donald Trump’s proposed “Garden of Heroes” was being resurrected by the Biden administration to form the basis of a new national theme park, one with blackjack and bumper cars, would you believe me? You might, because it is an objectively spectacular idea and it’d be a damn shame if nobody followed up on that.
Biden admin probes risk of low-level contamination in vaccines made at troubled plant
The Food and Drug Administration is working with shot makers to ensure doses manufactured by contractor Emergent BioSolutions are safe to use.
Democrat Kyrsten Sinema Says The Filibuster ‘Protects The Democracy Of Our Nation’
Last week, Senate Republicans filibustered a bill to establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on democracy at the U.S. Capitol.
High School Valedictorian Uses Speech To Blast Texas’ New Abortion Ban
“I refuse to give up this platform to promote complacency and peace, when there is a war on my body and a war on my rights,” Paxton Smith said.
My Son’s Wife Thinks We’re Still Paying for Her Kids’ Fancy School After She Divorces Him
She’s delusional, but it’s straining my relationship with my son.
The Ugly Side of NBA Fandom Can No Longer Be Ignored
Late Sunday night, after the fourth game of a playoff series between the Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics, the most talked-about video was not a high-definition highlight but a few frames of zoomed-in graininess. As Kyrie Irving—once a Celtic, now a Net, fresh off scoring 39 points in a Brooklyn rout—exited the court in Boston, a 21-year-old fan named Cole Buckley allegedly hurled a plastic water bottle at Irving’s head.
The Cowardice of Cruella
This article contains mild spoilers for Cruella. “It’s time to make some trouble. You in?” reads one of the posts promoting Cruella, Disney’s prequel-meets-reconsideration of the classic One Hundred and One Dalmatians villain. The line is in keeping with the film: It’s slick and witty and teasingly imprecise about what “trouble,” in this context, might entail.
The 139 Republicans Who Lied, Fueled An Insurrection And Then Voted To Cover It Up
Don’t forget the names of these GOP lawmakers who chose Donald Trump over American democracy. Twice.
A Truly Revolting Treatment Is Having a Renaissance
In its larval stage, Lucilia sericata looks unassuming enough. Beige and millimeters long, a bottle-fly grub may lack good looks, but it contains a sophisticated set of tools for eating dead and dying human flesh. The maggots ooze digestive enzymes and antimicrobials to dissolve decaying tissue and to kill off any unwanted bacteria or pathogens.
White House’s vaccine push now includes longer pharmacy hours, free childcare — and beer
“If you’re too busy at work or school, you can get vaccinated around the clock,” President Biden said in touting the new measures.
Does the U.S. Senate Resemble Ancient Rome?
Over the weekend, this space held the third installment in the “Lessons of Rome” chronicles by my friend Eric Schnurer. This one went into the comparison between the Roman Senate, in the era of Cicero and the Catiline conspiracy, and the current one in Washington.If you haven’t read it yet, please give it a try—among other reasons, for the speechwriter’s view of classic Latin rhetoric.
Trump’s ‘Communications Platform’ Fails After Just 1 Month
The blog goes the way of so many other Trump-branded products.
Naomi Osaka Is Part of a Larger War Within Sports
Congratulations, tennis. You’ve won neither the battle nor the war with Naomi Osaka, but you have just bullied one of the biggest stars in your sport into quitting a major tournament that could use the publicity she would have brought to it.Osaka, the second-ranked woman in international tennis and the highest-paid female athlete in the world, withdrew from the French Open after a power struggle with tournament officials over whether she would attend obligatory press conferences.
“A Massive Crisis”: Majority of U.S. Mass Shootings Have Links to Domestic Violence
With the U.S. marking at least 242 mass shootings so far in 2021, according to the Gun Violence Archive, we speak with policy expert Julia Weber about the link between gun violence and domestic violence. “We know that this is a massive crisis that we need to address much more effectively,” says Weber, the implementation director at the Giffords Law Center.
Does Tennis Care About Players? Naomi Osaka Quits French Open After Mental Health Plea Ignored
Athletes around the globe are voicing support for tennis superstar Naomi Osaka, who withdrew from the French Open after being fined and threatened with disqualification for declining to take part in press conferences due to their effect on her mental health. Prominent athletes, from Stephen Curry to Serena Williams, have come forward to support 23-year-old Osaka, who is a four-time Grand Slam tournament winner.
As Biden Marks 100 Years Since Tulsa Massacre, Calls Grow for Reparations to Close Racial Wealth Gap
President Biden traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, one of the single greatest acts of racist terrorism in U.S. history. Over a span of 18 hours, a white mob burned down what was known as “Black Wall Street,” the thriving Black neighborhood of Greenwood in Tulsa, and killed an estimated 300 African Americans. Duke University professor William Darity says it’s “very impressive” that a sitting U.S.