Today's Liberal News

1 Billion TikTok Users Understand What Congress Doesn’t

Many people think of TikTok as a dance app. And although it is an app full of dancing, it’s also a juggernaut experiencing astronomical growth. In July, TikTok—a short-form video-sharing app powered by an uncannily good recommendation algorithm and owned by the Chinese company ByteDance—became the only social-media mobile app other than those from Facebook to ever pass 3 billion downloads. At the end of last month, TikTok announced it had more than 1 billion monthly users.

Family of Henrietta Lacks Files Lawsuit over Use of Stolen Cells, Lambasts Racist Medical System

The family of Henrietta Lacks has filed a lawsuit against biotech company Thermo Fisher Scientific for making billions in profit from the “HeLa” cell line. Henrietta Lacks was an African American patient at Johns Hopkins University Hospital. Doctors kept her tissue samples without her consent for experimental studies while treating her for cervical cancer in 1951.

Filipina Journalist Maria Ressa Wins Nobel Peace Prize After Facing Years of Threats & Arrests

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday morning to Filipina journalist Maria Ressa and Russian newspaper editor Dmitry Muratov for their work to “safeguard freedom of expression.” Ressa has repeatedly been arrested by the government of Rodrigo Duterte for the groundbreaking work of her news site Rappler, which has exposed Duterte’s deadly war on drugs that has killed tens of thousands.

Ethiopia: New Reports Expose Ethnic Cleansing & Illegal Arms Shipments on Commercial Flights

Amid the mounting humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia, the Ethiopian government has been using the commercial airline Ethiopia Airlines to shuttle weapons and military vehicles from neighboring country Eritrea since the beginning of their civil war, according to a new CNN investigation. This comes as the United Nations estimates more than 5 million people in the country’s Tigray region are now in need of humanitarian assistance in order to survive, but U.N.

Britain’s Distasteful Soccer Sellout

In the northern English city of Newcastle upon Tyne, there is no Duomo di Firenze or Sagrada Familia standing tall, representing the city, its soul and spirit. There is no St. Paul’s Cathedral, Notre-Dame, or Basilica di San Marco. No, in Newcastle, the cathedral and castle are of secondary importance—so too the Roman wall built by the emperor Hadrian. In Newcastle, the soul of the city is its great, hulking, lopsided (and somewhat dilapidated) soccer stadium, St.

Community Spotlight: I Got The News Today remembers our military and consoles their loved ones

2004 was a dark year in the U.S. By April, American troops had been in Afghanistan for two and a half years, and in Iraq for just over one year. One member of the Daily Kos Community, i dunno, had had enough. Not only was President George W. Bush not attending the arrival of troops at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, but, i dunno wrote, “the public is not allowed to see the flag-draped coffins returning from Iraq … No pictures on the nightly news.

Weak September jobs report busts the unemployment benefits myth, this week in the war on workers

The delta variant of COVID-19 continues to leave its mark on the economy with another disappointing jobs report. Earlier in the summer, job creation rose dramatically, only to sink again as coronavirus cases spiked. Again. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the economy added just 194,000 jobs in September, and labor force participation dropped slightly—yet another piece of evidence that increased unemployment benefits were not keeping people from looking for work.

Connect! Unite! Act! We can’t afford to take anything for granted, ask Virginia Kos

Connect! Unite! Act! is a weekly series that seeks to create face-to-face networks in each congressional district. Groups meet regularly to socialize, get out the vote, support candidates, and engage in other local political actions that help our progressive movement grow and exert influence on the powers that be. Visit us every week to see how you can get involved!

I’m going to ask you to step into a time machine. It is August 2016. Donald J.

You’ve Never Heard John Coltrane Like This Before

One Saturday in October 1965, John Coltrane did something unusual: He picked up his tenor saxophone and led his band into a performance of his masterpiece, A Love Supreme, a work he rarely played live. That evening in Seattle, the ensemble unfurled a revelatory rendition—looser and more raucous than the recorded version, losing none of its devotion but trading solemnity for ecstasy.

Why Aren’t We Even Talking About Easing COVID Restrictions?

When many states and cities implemented shutdown orders to combat the spread of the coronavirus last year, an array of metrics told the public when, or if, the closures would end. Restrictions on shopping, dining indoors, playing sports, and going to school were created based on specific data such as the COVID-19 positivity rate and the number of cases.

It’s Not Misinformation. It’s Amplified Propaganda.

One Sunday morning in July of last year, a message from an anonymous account appeared on “Bernie or Vest,” a Discord chat server for fans of Senator Bernie Sanders. It contained an image of Shahid Buttar, the San Francisco activist challenging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the 2020 congressional runoff, and offered explicit instructions for how to elevate the hashtag #PelosiMustGo to the nationwide Trending list on Twitter.

Bangladesh Really Is a Climate Success Story

Fifty years ago, Bangladesh won independence from Pakistan amid devastating climate disaster. The year before, in 1970, the Bhola cyclone had killed up to half a million people. The human toll of the disaster—one of the deadliest cyclones in recorded history—was amplified by a woefully insufficient response by Pakistan’s government. Faced with renewed demands for independence in what was then East Pakistan, the military waged a brutal crackdown and genocide.