‘Doomsday scenario’: Lagging vaccine rates stir fears of dangerous variants
Officials say the virus remains a persistent enough threat to potentially mutate into something that puts even vaccinated people at heightened risk.
Today's Liberal News
FDR’s Second 100 Days Were Cooler Than His First 100 Days
Let’s talk about the period when Roosevelt actually created the modern welfare state.
What Uber and DoorDash’s Investors Are Suddenly Afraid Of
And what the gig economy really has to fear.
The Real Villains of the Housing Crisis
One group has too much power over what gets built—or, more often, what doesn’t.
Biden shakes up vaccine strategy as he sets new goal
He’s aiming to vaccinate at least 70 percent of adults by July 4 as the pace of vaccinations has been slowing.
Hermit nation: Australia locks out its citizens in extreme new Covid policy
The Australian government announced it will jail and fine citizens attempting to return from India.
White House struggle to define its vaccine diplomacy leaves Ukraine hanging
Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration has been pressing Washington for help obtaining vaccines since December, before Donald Trump left office.
Why Bill and Melinda Gates’ Divorce Is Such a Shock
America had no idea this would be hot Melinda Gates summer.
I Just Left My Religion and Am Ready for Sex—but I Already Have a Problem
I can’t even think about it without gagging.
Mark Carney on Canada’s economic growth: ‘It’s going to take more than one budget’
“There were elements of growth in the balance from what I can see and understand,” Carney said in a long response that didn’t directly answer the question.
How the Trudeau government plans to meet its climate goals
Chrystia Freeland uses Budget 2021 to reveal Canada’s new emissions target.
“Exterminate All the Brutes”: Filmmaker Raoul Peck Explores Colonialism & Origins of White Supremacy
A new four-part documentary series, “Exterminate All the Brutes,” delves deeply into the legacy of European colonialism from the Americas to Africa. It has been described as an unflinching narrative of genocide and exploitation, beginning with the colonizing of Indigenous land that is now called the United States.
News Roundup: U.S. for vaccine patent waivers; McConnell vows obstruction; judge blasts Barr memo
In the news today: The Biden administration announced its support for waiving COVID-19 vaccine patents during the pandemic, a move that could potentially boost manufacturing capabilities. Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell once again declared himself to be “100%” committed to opposing Biden’s presidency.
CNN’s Jake Tapper takes on the GOP’s new lyin’ kings in wake of Liz Cheney dustup
In a lengthy discussion on the brewing internecine war between Republicans, Jake Tapper stood firmly on the side of truth. Appearing on Tuesday’s edition of CNN’s New Day, Tapper noted that Republicans, for the most part, simply aren’t good-faith actors anymore.
Of course, while the truth is fairly easy to suss out these days, grasping even a gossamer strand of it seems like a Sisyphean challenge for Republicans.
‘They are left to defend themselves’: San Diego approves legal help for some detained immigrants
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors has approved a one-year, $5 million pilot program that will provide legal assistance to immigrants detained at nearby Otay Mesa Detention Facility, the Associated Press (AP) reports. Unlike in the criminal court system, people facing immigration court aren’t guaranteed legal help, no matter how vulnerable—or young—they might be.
Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade acts like a third grader after being schooled by a 6th grader
Calling the Fox News channel a propaganda machine for the right wing of the country is a redundant truism. It may be true that the absolute is relative, and the relative is absolute, but relatively speaking: the on-air personalities at Fox News are about as smart as cobwebs in an attic that refuse to read. On Wednesday, Fox & Friends did their normal morning show where one guy smiles while saying stupid things, and two other people say stupid things while never cracking a smile.
Texas Republican Slams GOP For Hating ‘A Good Hunk Of America’
“I don’t know what we stand for. We stand for owning the libs,” former congressional candidate Michael Wood told MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace.
Daily Kos presents calculations of the 2020 presidential race for Virginia’s state House districts
As it so often does in odd-numbered years, Virginia will host the most important elections of 2021, with voters casting ballots in races for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general, as well as for all 100 seats in the state House. To help better understand these key legislative races, Daily Kos Elections is pleased to release new data breaking down the results of the 2020 presidential election for each House district, including detailed calculations for every seat.
Biden: I Don’t Understand Today’s Republican Party
The president expressed bafflement at GOP attacks on Liz Cheney as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell pledged “100%” opposition to the White House.
The Trump Decision Turned Content Moderation Into Shark Week
This morning, the oversight board, a putatively independent body funded by Facebook through a $130 million trust, announced a decision in its tenth case: The removal of Donald Trump from the social platform had been justified, it said, but poorly executed. The meaning of his “indefinite suspension” wasn’t very clear, nor are any of Facebook’s existing policies about world leaders. The company has been given six months to decide what to do and get back to the board.
I Just Spent 10 Hours Listening to Marriage Advice From a Power Couple That Went Kaput. Whew.
They sold a picture-perfect image right to the end.
Moderna booster shots effective against Covid variants in early study
The results from a preliminary study are an early sign that booster shots could play a role in future vaccination efforts.
Trump Decision Shows Facebook More Concerned About PR Than Actual Oversight
“Facebook essentially set up this body as a PR device,” one critic said of the company’s quasi-independent advisory board.
Mitch McConnell Says He’s ‘100%’ Focused On Stopping Biden’s Administration
The Kentucky Republican side-stepped a question about GOP infighting between Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and former President Donald Trump.
Fauci: The U.S. has a ‘moral obligation’ to help with global pandemic response
The prospect of abandoning vaccine patents to allow broad global production has pitted public health advocates against industry.
Trump Mocked For Continuing To Harp On Pence For Not Stealing Election
One day after launching his new “communications platform,” Trump assailed his former vice president, along with Mitch McConnell and Liz Cheney.
The Problem Is Facebook
Back to you, Zuck. Facebook’s oversight board earlier today declined to act as a human shield for the social network. Asked to rule on the suspension of Donald Trump’s account in the wake of the January 6 Capitol riot, it passed the ultimate decision back to Facebook.For now, Trump’s suspension stays in place. But the board has given Facebook six months to “reexamine the arbitrary penalty it imposed on January 7 and decide the appropriate penalty.
Cicadas Have an Existential Problem
When the cicadas of Brood X start to swarm the United States in their billions, try to look beyond their overwhelming numbers. Instead, focus on just one of them. Despite appearances, that individual cicada will be a swarm unto itself—the insect and a community of organisms living inside it. Their lives have been so tightly entwined that they cannot survive alone. Their fates have been so precariously interlinked that their future is uncertain.
Ban Him Forever
This morning an oversight board created by Facebook approved the company’s January decision to indefinitely suspend Donald Trump from its platform, and gave the company six months to clarify the duration of the suspension. The result is a bit of a procedural dodge. There is only one reasonable path available for the company to take: Ban the former president permanently.The reasons for this are straightforward.
Andrea Valdez Joining The Atlantic’s Senior Leadership Team as SVP of Audience Strategy
The Atlantic’s CEO Nick Thompson announced that Andrea Valdez is joining his senior leadership team as senior vice president of audience strategy later this month. Valdez is the founding editor in chief of the nonprofit, independent news organization The 19th, and was previously an editor at The Texas Observer, Wired, and Texas Monthly.“Andrea is one of the most talented people I’ve ever worked with,” Thompson said.