CDC director: Too early for states to roll back mask mandates
“It’s encouraging to see these trends coming down but they’re coming down from an extraordinarily high place,” Rochelle Walensky said.
Today's Liberal News
Moderna in talks with FDA to increase vaccine doses per vial
Doing so could alleviate limits on the final step of vaccine production.
Biden’s economic point man draws praise — and pushback
Allies laud Brian Deese’s leadership on the stimulus negotiations, but he’s rubbed some the wrong way.
Biden aims to isolate China on coal — but it could blow back on the U.S.
The U.S. wants to stop new coal projects, but risks losing poor countries to Beijing’s “Belt and Road” agenda.
‘Clearly not healthy’: Markets are giddy about reopening — and that’s the problem
Investors are pumping up bubbles across markets, with excitement growing about more stimulus and widespread vaccinations.
‘The Democratic version of John McCain’
As the critical swing vote in a 50-50 Senate, Joe Manchin has emerged as the most powerful man in Washington.
U.S. backs Okonjo-Iweala, first woman and African, to head WTO
The decision breaks with the Trump administration’s opposition to Okonjo-Iweala and brings the U.S. in line with much of the rest of the world.
Lancet Report: 40% of U.S. COVID Deaths Were Preventable. The Country Needs Universal Healthcare Now
As the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 approaches half a million, a new report says nearly 40% of the deaths were avoidable. By comparing the pandemic in the U.S. to other high-income nations, the medical journal The Lancet found significant gaps in former President Donald Trump’s “inept and insufficient” response to COVID-19, as well as decades of destructive public policy decisions.
Conservative Lawyer Bruce Fein: Trump’s Acquittal Gives Future Presidents License to Break the Law
As the Senate votes to acquit former President Donald Trump for inciting the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, we speak with constitutional lawyer and former Reagan administration official Bruce Fein, who says the insurrection was not just an attack on the U.S. Capitol, but “an effort, basically, to destroy the rule of law and the Constitution itself.” Fein says failure to convict Trump will give license to future presidents to break the law.
Tucker Carlson Cackles As He Concocts Bonkers New Biden Conspiracy Theory
The Fox News host is very uncomfortable with the first couple’s openly affectionate relationship.
Tuesday Night Owls. Dorceta Taylor: ‘Environmental justice demands listening’
Night Owls is a themed open thread appearing at Daily Kos seven days a week.
When Yale Professor of environmental sociology Dorceta E. Taylor wrote The State of Diversity in Environmental Organizations in 2014, she learned that minorities made up just 14.6% of the staff of environmental organizations even though people of color make up 38% of the U.S. population.
What’s happening to Adam Kinzinger is frightening … and telling
As many Americans are aware, Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger is one of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump for his role in inciting the insurrection of Jan. 6. The conservative Air National Guard veteran, currently serving his sixth term in Congress, is one of the few Republicans who declined to fall in behind Donald Trump in the wake of the lethal riots at the U.S. Capitol.
Black history should be taught in all schools—especially those with a small Black student population
Maria Montessori Academy, a charter school in North Ogden, Utah, made headlines this month after allowing several families to opt their children out of Black History Month curriculum. The principal of the school wrote in a Facebook post that he “reluctantly” gave parents the option in order to allow them “to exercise their civil rights.
Biden ordered stop to wall construction after taking office. Builders appear to be violating that
President Joe Biden on day one terminated the so-called “national emergency” his predecessor declared as an excuse to build his border wall, ordering a halt to construction “as soon as possible but in no case later than seven days” while his administration reassessed the legality of the project.
‘Young Black man like me has to be in fear’: Residents say white cop allowed to harass them
A white South Carolina sergeant is accused of using minor traffic infractions to harass 21 Black residents, and the city’s mayor is attempting to explain away the sergeant’s actions. A woman told the Lancaster City Council on February 9 that Sgt. Pete Beck pulled over her son multiple times in a few weeks, according to Fox 46.
Stop Shaming Texans for Not Having Snowsuits
After this week’s chaotic winter storm, regional weather preparedness is no longer a joke.
Biden admin rushes to close virus-sequencing gap as variants spread
So far, though, the federal effort is lagging.
Storms likely causing ‘widespread’ delays of vaccine shipments, CDC says
At least two shipping hubs that multiple states rely on for vaccine distribution have been affected.
The Weekly Planet: The Big Idea From Bill Gates’s New Climate Book
Every Tuesday, our lead climate reporter brings you the big ideas, expert analysis, and vital guidance that will help you flourish on a changing planet. This explainer from The Texas Tribune describes how the architects of the Texas grid made sure it avoided crossing state lines in order to prevent the federal government from regulating it.2. A talking point has developed that the Texas grid shut down because wind turbines iced over.
Trump Goes After Mitch McConnell, Calls The Republican Leader A ‘Political Hack’
The former president called the Senate minority leader “third rate” and “one of the most unpopular politicians in the United States.
Republicans Have Emerged From The Capitol Insurrection United Against Democracy
Republicans who voted to impeach or convict Trump for his role in the Capitol riot are facing fury and official rebukes from party leaders back home.
Brent Bozell IV, Son Of Prominent Conservative Activist, Charged In Capitol Riot
Online sleuths looked into Bozell because he wore the sweatshirt of a Christian school and he previously served as a girls’ basketball coach.
Why a COVID Skeptic Finally Took the Vaccine
And what we can learn from a reporter’s experience trying to persuade members of his family to take the virus seriously.
Biden Plans To Bypass MBS In Saudi Relations
It’s an abrupt reversal in U.S. policy from Trump, whose son-in-law Jared Kushner maintained steady contact with the crown prince.
Help! My Boyfriend Is a Slob. How Do I Ask Him to Clean Up Without Being a Nag?
I refuse to live in a house where food is stuck on to the coffee table, the dishwasher remains full, and the bathroom is constantly littered with hair.
Scenes From the 2021 Australian Open
The 109th edition of the Australian Open tennis tournament is currently underway in Melbourne—despite a five-day COVID-19 lockdown put in place by the state government. Players from all over the world have been competing in empty arenas in the heat of the Australian summer. This week, matches are progressing into the semifinals, with the final day of the tournament coming on February 21. Collected here are some colorful glimpses of the 2021 Australian Open.
Andrés Arauz: Ecuador’s Presidential Front-Runner on COVID, Austerity & Ending U.S. Interference
Ecuador’s presidential front-runner says the country is facing a “double crisis” of COVID-19 and austerity. “We need a renewal in our politics,” Andrés Arauz tells Democracy Now! The left-wing economist secured nearly 33% of the vote in the first round of Ecuador’s presidential election on February 7 but fell short of the 40% needed to win outright.
The Case for Prosecuting Trump: Elie Mystal on Why Criminal Charges Are Still Possible — and Needed
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she has authorized a 9/11-style commission to further investigate the January 6 insurrection and the actions that led up to it, as calls grow for the criminal prosecution of former President Donald Trump after his acquittal in his second Senate impeachment trial.
Life Is Tough for Teenage Parasites
In my personal opinion, the greatest coming-of-age story on Earth does not take place in a Dickens novel or a Disney movie, but rather in a white fish at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.The fish in question, called a zoarcid, looks like a creature caught in an identity crisis, too long to be a fish but too short to be an eel, its lips permanently drooping in a sullen pout. Otherwise, the fish has no real reason to be grumpy.