Today's Liberal News

Meat Loaf dead at 74, reportedly had a case of severe COVID

The  singer, actor, and performer Meat Loaf passed away late Thursday night, according to a post made by his family on his Facebook page. No official cause has been given. The popular performer had a tough run of health problems over the last few years, but he was working on new material and touring since the the fall. According to an unconfirmed report from TMZ, the singer had canceled a “business dinner” earlier this week after catching COVID.

Mom didn’t want her child’s face to be national news, but anti-mask hysteria has a life of its own

At this point in the pandemic, everyone should be in agreement that face masks need to be worn when inside (at minimum) and that they need to fit well. Obviously depending on the age and needs of the person involved, that’s sometimes easier said than done. One Pennsylvania community is lashing out from both sides of the political aisle after a photo of a teacher and minor student was posted to a Facebook page called “North Penn Stronger Together.

Your Presidential Picks: Adam Silver, Tyler Cowen, Stacey Abrams

Sign up for Conor’s newsletter here.“You can appoint any American citizen to one term as president,” I wrote earlier this week, “so long as your choice has never run for president before. Who do you appoint to the White House and why?” Among politicians, Jared Polis, the governor of Colorado, was mentioned most. Former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and former Georgia State Representative Stacey Abrams were tapped, too.

Why a Three-Dose Vaccine for Young Kids Might Actually Work Out

For many months now, Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine has been slowly making its way into smaller arms in smaller doses—from teens to adolescents to elementary-school-age kids in the fall. Now it’s just the under-5 crowd left, and the word on the lips of parents raring to protect their children is still, simply, when. Somehow, no one yet seems to know.

Students Are Walking Out Over COVID

Last semester was bad, but this one has been worse. The pandemic—and the United States’ haphazard response to it—has presented parents and teachers with unpleasant choice after unpleasant choice when it comes to kids’ education. But even by pandemic standards, the highly contagious Omicron variant has brought a special level of chaos to schools.

The Classic ’90s Sitcom That’s Actually Worth Rewatching

Over the past two years of the pandemic, old, reliable shows with new lives on streaming platforms have been a mainstay for audiences. (Who wants new plotlines when headlines about COVID-19 variants offer enough of that already?) And the deepest well for comfort watches may be the ’90s sitcom. Friends, Seinfeld, and the rest of “Must See TV” add up to hundreds of hours of cheery sets filled with familiar faces.

The Simplest Way to Sell More Electric Cars in America

Updated at 5:20 p.m. ET on January 21, 2022 The Rivian R1T, the $75,000 debut pickup from America’s new electric-truck maker, is unlike any vehicle I have ever driven.It is, first, really big: 18 feet long and six feet tall, it weighs three and a half tons, heavier than a white rhinoceros or a tricked-out Ford F-150. But this girth is belied by everything else about it. The R1T has an aesthetic unity missing from every mass-market automobile on the road, Teslas included.

ACLU Lawyer: Biden Is “Hiding Behind CDC” to Keep Pushing Trump-Era Anti-Immigrant Title 42 Policy

As the Biden administration marks its first year in office this week, we look at the president’s ongoing defense of Trump-era anti-immigration policies. Department of Justice lawyers were in court Wednesday to defend the Trump-era order known as Title 42, which has been used to expel hundreds of thousands of migrants at the border without screening them for asylum.

Afghanistan Faces “Tsunami of Hunger” as U.S. Sanctions Crash Country’s Economy

The World Food Program has warned Afghanistan faces a “tsunami of hunger” as the economy continues to collapse, due in part to U.S. sanctions and the freezing of Afghan assets following the Taliban takeover of Kabul. Meanwhile, President Biden once again defended his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan on Wednesday without acknowledging the humanitarian crisis that followed his exit.

“Davos Man”: How Billionaires Devour the World & Fuel Global Inequality, Prolonging the Pandemic

As many of the world’s wealthiest people wrap up virtual talks today at the World Economic Forum based in Davos, Switzerland, Oxfam reports the incomes of 99% of the world’s population dropped during the pandemic while the world’s 10 richest men saw their wealth double. Meanwhile, vaccine profits have minted at least nine new billionaires at Moderna, BioNTech and China’s CanSino, amassing a combined new wealth of over $19 billion.

Angela Davis on Reissue of Her 1974 Autobiography, Her Editor Toni Morrison, Internationalism & More

Activist and scholar Angela Davis has released a new edition of her 1974 autobiography, first published and edited by Toni Morrison nearly 50 years ago. The book details Davis’s remarkable early life, from growing up in a section of Birmingham, Alabama, known as Dynamite Hill due to the frequency of bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, to her work with the Black Panther Party and the U.S. Communist Party.

News Roundup: Senators block voting protections; Georgia grand jury to probe Trump, allies

In the news today: As expected, two Democratic senators joined all Republican senators to filibuster a vote on voting rights protections that would stop the unconscionable new state laws intended to make voting more difficult and time-consuming.

Georgia has been one of the states most egregious in inventing new obstacles to the vote, citing conspiracists’ claims of “fraud” as justification.