Today's Liberal News

Evanston, Illinois, to Pay Reparations to Black Families Harmed by Decades of Racist Housing Policies

Evanston, Illinois, has become the first city in the United States to make reparations available to its Black residents for past discrimination and the lingering effects of slavery. The Chicago suburb’s City Council voted 8 to 1 to distribute $400,000 to eligible Black households, with qualifying residents receiving $25,000 for home repairs or down payments on property.

Danny Glover on Amazon Union Drive, the Power of Organized Labor & Centuries of Resistance in Haiti

As workers in Bessemer, Alabama, continue to vote on whether to establish the first unionized Amazon warehouse in the United States, we speak with actor and activist Danny Glover, who recently joined organizers on the ground to push for a yes vote. “This election is a statement,” says Glover, one of the most high-profile supporters of the closely watched union drive. Nearly 6,000 workers, most of them Black, have until March 29 to return their ballots.

Yemen Enters 7th Year of U.S.-Backed, Saudi-Led War That Caused the World’s Worst Humanitarian Crisis

As the world’s worst humanitarian crisis enters its seventh year in Yemen, we look at the toll of the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led air war. A new report by the Yemen Data Project summarizing the impact of air raids over the past six years finds the bombing campaign has killed almost 1,500 civilians every year on average, a quarter of them children. Journalist Iona Craig, who heads up the Yemen Data Project, says there have been almost 23,000 air raids since the war began in 2015.

Community Spotlight: A tribute to Top Comments

Back in 2006, when Daily Kos was still sorting out its Community moderation model to keep trolls at bay, Trusted Users got two troll-rates (called “donuts”) per day, and it was not enough. Community member Carnacki had an idea: A nightly post would highlight trollish comments, bringing them to the Community at large so their authors could be dealt with. “This is not to open up a troll war,” he wrote at the time.

Community Spotlight: A tribute to Top Comments

Back in 2006, when Daily Kos was still sorting out its Community moderation model to keep trolls at bay, Trusted Users got two troll-rates (called “donuts”) per day, and it was not enough. Community member Carnacki had an idea: A nightly post would highlight trollish comments, bringing them to the Community at large so their authors could be dealt with. “This is not to open up a troll war,” he wrote at the time.

Were the last 12 months a ‘lost year’ for you because of the pandemic?

The DKonversation: Something to talk about

Today’s question:
 

Were the last 12 months a “Lost Year” because of the pandemic?

It’s been a year since pandemic closings turned the world upside down and everything about our lives changed.

Students from kindergarten to graduate school were suddenly taking classes at home. Lots of office jobs became telecommutes.

Were the last 12 months a ‘lost year’ for you because of the pandemic?

The DKonversation: Something to talk about

Today’s question:
 

Were the last 12 months a “Lost Year” because of the pandemic?

It’s been a year since pandemic closings turned the world upside down and everything about our lives changed.

Students from kindergarten to graduate school were suddenly taking classes at home. Lots of office jobs became telecommutes.

The Final Word on Tina Turner

Before “What’s Love Got to Do With It” was a Grammy Hall of Fame record, the title of an Angela Bassett–fronted biopic, or a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, it was a breathy little ditty sung by the British pop group Bucks Fizz. After the ABBA-reminiscent band recorded its rendition, the songwriter Terry Britten took his track to a very different artist who initially disliked it, before she brought it to life with a new vigor.

Why Ships Keep Crashing

When a big jet airplane crashes, it almost always makes headlines around the world, and for good reason: Fatal passenger accidents are extremely rare. Right now, though, the eyes of the world are on the Ever Given, the massive container ship still stubbornly lodged between the banks of the Suez Canal.

Democracies Keep Vaccines for Themselves

Earlier this month, the United States promised to send Canada and Mexico a total of 4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is not yet being used to inoculate Americans against COVID-19. The commitment of 2.5 million vaccines to Mexico represents the largest single pledge of vaccine doses from one country to another so far in this crisis. Those doses are going to a neighbor in great need.

The Bombs That Never Went Off

You were probably busy with other things in September 2020.Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had died. The raging COVID-19 pandemic had erupted at the White House. President Donald Trump had debated Joe Biden.So you might have missed a news item from Kazakhstan: the elimination of the last weapons-grade uranium in that country. In a program jointly operated with the United States, Kazakh scientists ground 2.9 kilograms of highly enriched uranium into a fine powder.

The Moral Cost of Choosing Stability Over Justice

When Nancy Pelosi was asked “Why bother?” with Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial, given that he was no longer president, the speaker of the House replied: “You cannot go forward until you have justice.”It was a simple but powerful statement that Americans understand in a personal and visceral way after the January 6 insurrection on Capitol Hill.