Today's Liberal News

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have been injured and 87 people are missing in the midst of the demonstrations, which were initially sparked by a now-withdrawn tax reform proposal, but they have since expanded in scope.

News Roundup: House Republicans fall into the Big Lie; Florida COVID-19 variants surge

In the news today: As House Republicans solidify plans to oust Rep. Liz Cheney from leadership, devotion to spreading party-favored hoaxes and propaganda becomes a Republican litmus test for membership. It is a fascist movement, and if it can’t win elections it intends to declare democracy itself is rigged against it. And Florida is facing a new post-spring break wave of COVID-19 infections, including the most cases of virus “variants” in any state.

The women of jazz who fought racism and sexism to open doors for their sisters

This story was written in celebration of International Jazz Day on April 30, the culmination of Jazz Appreciation Month, which this year was dedicated to “Women’s Impact and Contributions in Jazz.”

Five years ago, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama hosted the International Jazz Day All-Star Gala Concert in a pavilion on the South Lawn of the White House. The IJD program also included events all over Washington, D.C.

Rabidly pro-Trump ‘prophet’ gets pushed out by his own church

When Facebook’s Oversight Board upheld Facebook’s decision to lock Donald Trump out of his Facebook and Instagram accounts, it should have been bad news to the rabidly pro-Trump, charismatic Pentecostal “prophets” who have been insisting that Trump’s return to the White House is nigh. After all, it’s pretty clear that Trump made the board’s decision for it with his obstinate insistence that he had victory stolen from him.

COVID-19 variants soar in Florida in weeks after crowded spring break

The restaurant business is booming in Florida, propped up by “a huge spring break and tourist influx,” reports The Washington Post as prelude to yet another story about how Americans are still not eagerly lining up to take the worst jobs in America even though restaurant owners really, really would prefer they did. But something else is booming in Florida as well, due to that same “huge” spring break: The COVID-19 pandemic.

Elon Musk Is Not Just a Celebrity

However your 2021 is going, what’s undeniable is that after Donald Trump left office earlier this year, a strange cultural quietude settled upon America. No one would dare call it peace. But the audiences for TV news and online media immediately shrunk. Rather than fretting quite as much about an imminent civil war, commentators have been arguing about sexy hip-hop videos.

COVID-19 Lays Bare the Price of Populism

As populism has experienced a resurgence in recent years, many have focused on the hazards the ideology poses to democratic systems. But today’s complex and highly technical global threats—pandemics, climate change, cyberattacks, financial crises—that demand technocratic solutions have driven home a grim reality: Populism can place us all at risk.

The Arrow Paradox

Zeno sent
his arrow flying
endlessly from point
to point along its arc
to make a point
about eternity:
getting there is tricky.
That’s what I think
anyway, as snowflakes
stall in the morning’s
freezing air
like seed fluff
reluctant to drop
anchor in the ice.

The ‘Blurred Existence’ of Motherhood

Photo Illustrations by Tabitha SorenTabitha Soren documented the months following the birth of her third child, in 2006, with the help of a digital camera mounted in her bedroom and operated by remote. In her new series, Motherload, Soren layers together the resulting images.This article was published online on May 9, 2021.I was excited about having a third child, but dreading the first year.

The Model for Fixing the DOJ

President Joe Biden is facing problems Gerald Ford would have appreciated. Like Ford in 1974, Biden has come into office following a president accused of criminality. Both Biden and Ford inherited a Department of Justice plagued by scandal and well-grounded charges of politicization. Both had to choose a nominee for attorney general knowing that recent occupants of that office contributed to partisanship and displayed a lack of integrity.