Today's Liberal News

A Death Trap? As 12th Prisoner Dies at NYC’s Rikers Island, Calls Grow to Close World’s Largest Jail

We take an in-depth look at the growing humanitarian crisis at the world’s largest jail complex, Rikers Island in New York City. After touring the jail, New York City Public Advocate ​​Jumaane Williams describes it as “a disaster.” In response to mounting public pressure, most of the women and transgender people at Rikers are being transferred to two prisons, including a maximum-security facility, even as most are still awaiting trial.

“People vs. Fossil Fuels”: Over 530 Arrested in Historic Indigenous-Led Climate Protests in D.C.

This week over 530 climate activists were arrested during Indigenous-led civil disobedience actions in Washington, D.C., calling on President Joe Biden to declare a climate emergency and stop approving fossil fuel projects. Indigenous leaders have issued a series of demands, including the abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, whose offices they occupied on Thursday for the first time since the 1970s. The protests come just weeks before the start of the critical U.N.

The Best Show on TV Is Stuck

Watching Succession’s second season, which to my mind is one of the most dexterous and enthralling seasons of television in recent history, was like an immersion in all the different ways tension can manifest on-screen: a loaded conversation between two people, a fraught family event, a hunting excursion during which executives literally scuffle to bring home the bacon. You perhaps remember less about the specifics of each scene than the visceral feeling of watching them.

“Missing in Brooks County”: Thousands of Migrants Denied Due Process at Border Have Died in Desert

We continue to look at the humanitarian crisis along the border, where more people are dying trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border than ever before, as President Biden has increased funding for border enforcement and militarization even as he vowed not to expand Trump’s border wall. We go to Brooks County in South Texas, which has recorded at least 98 migrant deaths so far this year, nearly triple the number from 2020.

News Roundup: Youngkin crowd pledges allegiance to insurrection; Trump as deadbeat

In the news today: Glenn Youngkin rally organizers caused quite a stir when they proudly brought in a flag waved by protesters at the violent January 6 insurrection for the crowd to pledge allegiance to. A bit too on the nose, maybe? On the other end of the insurrection, Trump strategist and Trump-pardoned grifter Steve Bannon remains defiant in the face of subpoenas issued by members of Congress he helped Trump supporters attack.

Green card installation represents hundreds of thousands of TPS families in need of permanent relief

Affected individuals and groups continue to demand the Biden administration and Democrats fulfill their promise to deliver legalization, on Wednesday installing hundreds of enlarged green cards in front of the U.S. Capitol. The 400 placards, which read in part “United States of America Permanent Resident,” symbolized 400,000 Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders and families who need permanent relief.

Newt Gingrich is a deadbeat with a $4.3 million debt—he doesn’t care

What is up with Republicans refusing to pay back their debts? We know Trump owes everybody money—possibly more than $1 billion—according to Forbes, but before Trump, there’s an old-school cheater, one whose debts go back a decade.

One-time GOP Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich currently owes more than $4.6 million in unpaid bills thanks to those small firms that helped him run and supported his failed 2012 presidential campaign.

Mix-and-Match Vaccines: A Shopper’s Guide

In this week’s installment of the booster chronicles, the plot is picking up. An advisory committee to the FDA began a two-day meeting today to formulate recommendations for whether the agency should authorize additional doses of the Johnson & Johnson and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. (The FDA still has to authorize, and the CDC still has to recommend, any new use of boosters before they’ll be readily available.

‘Gen Z’ Only Exists in Your Head

You know there’s drama in research circles—or at least what qualifies as drama in research circles—when someone writes an open letter.Earlier this year, that someone was Philip Cohen, a sociologist at the University of Maryland at College Park. His request: that Pew Research Center, the nonpartisan “fact tank,” “do the right thing” and stop using generational labels such as Gen Z and Baby Boomers in its reports.

The Nation’s John Nichols: Trump’s Coup Nearly Succeeded. He Will Try Again in 2024

As the House committee probing the January 6 attack on the Capitol ramps up its investigation, new details continue to emerge about former President Donald Trump’s efforts to stay in the White House despite losing the 2020 election. The Senate Judiciary Committee recently revealed Trump directly asked the Justice Department nine times for help overturning the election.

Snipers Fatally Attack Protesters in Beirut as Lebanon Reels from Devastating Economic Collapse

At least five people were shot today in Beirut after snipers opened fire on a protest as Lebanon faces a growing economic and political emergency amid widespread corruption. Over the weekend, Lebanon fell into darkness for 24 hours after the nation’s electric grid collapsed. Within the past year, the Lebanese currency has fully collapsed as it continues to grapple with the aftermath of last year’s deadly port explosion.