Today's Liberal News

Walden Bello Warns of U.S. Warmongering as Tensions Escalate in South China Sea

China topped the agenda Tuesday when foreign ministers from G7 nations met in London. This comes as both China and the United States are accusing each other of escalating tensions in the South China Sea. Last week, the Chinese government claimed there has been a 40% increase of activity by U.S. planes in Chinese-claimed areas since Biden took office. Critics increasingly argue Biden’s policies on China are risk sparking a new Cold War.

News Roundup: Pandemic relief in sight; Fox News has a body count; Ron DeSantis sucks up

In the news today: While the hoped-for “herd immunity” is still in doubt, vaccinations are still expected to make serious headway against the COVID-19 pandemic within the next few months. But will Fox News let it happen? A U.S. Capitol police officer beaten severely by insurrectionists is still pleading with Republican lawmakers to stop downplaying the attack that led to at least five deaths. And Florida’s Gov.

How should living museums like Colonial Williamsburg depict Black history? It’s complicated

I grew up next to Colonial Williamsburg, which is an entire town preserved to resemble the 18th century. Started by John D. Rockefeller in the 1930s, it was created to immerse people during the founding era of our nation’s history—at least, the sanitized version. Although half the population was Black, their experience was entirely ignored. Slave quarters simply didn’t exist, and the white historical actors weren’t even allowed to mention slavery.

Podcast: Long COVID Questions Answered

What explains the strange constellation of symptoms that is “long COVID?” Will it ever go away? And why does vaccination seem to help? Writer F.T. Kola returns to the podcast Social Distance to recount her experience with long COVID with hosts James Hamblin and Maeve Higgins.They’re also joined by Dr. Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist investigating long COVID at her Yale lab.

This Week in Statehouse Action: May Sours edition

You know the old saw: April showers bring … well, pretty things the next month.

Except that here in the world of statehouse action, GOP-controlled legislatures keep making things pretty ugly.

But yay, it’s May! … which means that a lot of state legislatures will be wrapping their business this month or next.

Here’s what one of them in particular is getting up to before heading home.

In Florida, Republican Gov.

Right-wing fraudsters Wohl and Burkman in big trouble as their racist emails surface

The seemingly never-ending saga of Republican fraudsters Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman continues. These two losers have not stopped hitting new lows since coming on the scene as two-bit versions of already two-bit scam artists like Donald Trump and his “garbage can orbit.” They continue to make news because even though their actions would confine most other Americans to sentence after sentence in prison, they remain relatively free to continue to defraud the American public.

Somebody Has to Do It

No one has set any clear standard about how badly a politician can break Facebook’s rules before getting kicked off the platform, and yesterday the company’s wannabe court missed a chance to fill the void.

Liz Cheney Has Only Herself to Blame

Liz Cheney, the representative of Wyoming, the daughter of a former vice president, and a lifelong conservative Republican, is facing a purge.Cheney’s transgression? She has continued to insist, truthfully, that former President Donald Trump’s claims about the 2020 election are false, after having voted to impeach him in March for inciting a mob that stormed the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the result.Yesterday, Steve Scalise, the No.

Shoshana Zuboff: Facebook’s Oversight Board Is Not Enough. The Government Has to Regulate Big Tech

Former President Donald Trump will continue to stay off Facebook after the company’s Oversight Board ruled Wednesday that his ban was justified for creating “an environment where a serious risk of violence was possible.” Trump was banned shortly after the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, which he helped foment by promoting baseless claims of election fraud. The Oversight Board also said Facebook should reassess its ban and make a final decision in six months.

“Nothing to Lose”: Colombians Protest “Fascist Mafia Regime” Amid Deadly Police & Military Crackdown

At least 30 people in Colombia have been reportedly killed since a nationwide uprising erupted against the government of right-wing President Iván Duque. Protesters are vowing to remain in the streets amid a deadly crackdown by police and military officers. About 800 people have been injured and 87 people are missing in the midst of the demonstrations, which were initially sparked by a now-withdrawn tax reform proposal, but they have since expanded in scope.

“Monumental Moment”: U.S. Backs Waiving COVID Vaccine Patent Rights After Months of Blocking Talks

The Biden administration has announced it now supports temporarily waiving the intellectual property rights for COVID vaccines, in what the World Trade Organization is calling a “monumental moment.” India and South Africa first proposed the waiver in October, but the United States and other wealthy nations blocked the WTO from even opening negotiations on the proposal.