Today's Liberal News

I Felt More Welcome in Combat Than I Did on Base

In 2012, I was deployed to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to serve alongside Green Berets and infantry soldiers. As a member of an all-female cultural-support team, I was trained to interact with Afghan women and children, something that is culturally inappropriate for men to do. At the border, we encountered mortar attacks, improvised explosive devices, and firefights. Even though this time was tense, we worked well with our colleagues in U.S.

What’s Safe for Kids Now?

Parents of young children have some pressing questions for the CDC.In recent guidance, the public-health agency suggested that fully vaccinated individuals can burn their masks and never wear a face covering again. (I’m exaggerating. Masks are still required on public transit and in medical facilities, among other places.) Meanwhile, unvaccinated people should continue to mask inside as well as at crowded outdoor venues.

U.N. refugees commissioner calls on Biden admin to end Stephen Miller-pushed border policy

The United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Refugees on Thursday issued a public statement calling on the Biden administration to end the Stephen Miller-pushed policy that’s used the pandemic as an excuse to quickly deport asylum-seekers. The policy, implemented last year under political pressure from Miller and former Vice President Mike Pence, has deported more than 600,000 asylum-seekers.

Jill Biden delivers commencement speech to undocumented immigrant grads: ‘Never stop dreaming’

First lady Jill Biden told young undocumented immigrant graduates during a commencement speech this week that she feels “inspired” by them, saying that while the road ahead “will be both heartbreaking and hopeful,” she believed “the inner strength that got you here will serve you well,” the Associated Press (AP) reported.

The first lady made the remarks during a virtual commencement ceremony organized by TheDream.

Biden pledges big increase in funding, staffing to restore the IRS and crack down on rich tax cheats

In what is a ridiculously long overdue proposal, President Joe Biden is advocating doubling the size of the IRS, adding tens of thousands of new workers over the next decade in order to help achieve another of his goals: upping enforcement and getting tax scofflaws to pay up. That would come with an increase in funding to the IRS by $80 billion, and the return on that could be more than $700 billion in revenue in the next decade.

Some Jan. 6 insurrectionists want to blame Trump for their actions, but others balk at that strategy

The attorneys for the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers and other insurrectionists facing federal charges for their roles in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol have their work cut out for them, especially considering how their clients handed federal prosecutors all the evidence they needed, both on the day of the siege and on social media before and afterward. So it’s not a surprise that different lawyers for different clients are turning to wildly different strategies.

A Culture of Free Speech Protects Everyone

Last week, the journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, who led The New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project, was named the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Faculty at its Hussman School of Journalism and Media recommended her for tenure too. But the university’s board of trustees didn’t approve the faculty recommendation. Instead, UNC appointed her to a five-year contract with the option of a tenure review.