Is It Possible to Relax at a Resort During a Pandemic?
No conga lines, no buffets, but don’t worry: The swim-up bar is open.
Today's Liberal News
The Books Briefing: How to Tell a Story About Florida
“Seek to encapsulate Florida in a single narrative, and you’ll find yourself thwarted,” Lauren Groff writes in a review of Kent Russell’s In the Land of Good Living. In the book, Russell and his friends walk from the northwest corner of Florida’s panhandle south to Miami’s Coconut Grove, learning the state’s lore and teasing apart “the accepted story of Florida” from “the actual—far darker—story.
‘Morning Joe’ Speculates Trump May Quit Before He Gets Fired
MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough wondered, “Does [Trump] want to be elected president of the United States? Does he really want to be there?
Pride Should Always Look the Way It Does This Year
Corporate parades and expensive parties have been cancelled, but queer grassroots movements for social justice are very much on.
In Racial Justice Victory, Johnson & Johnson to Pay $2B to Women in Asbestos-Laced Baby Powder Suit
Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to pay $2.1 billion to a group of women who developed ovarian cancer after using talcum powder contaminated with asbestos. Johnson & Johnson heavily marketed the powder to African American women despite warnings that the products could cause cancer. Six of the plaintiffs in the Johnson & Johnson case died before the trial started. Five more of the women have died since 2018. We get response from M.
One Bad Algorithm? Advocates Say Facial Recognition Reveals Systemic Racism in AI Technology
The controversy over police use of facial recognition technology has accelerated after a Black man in Michigan revealed he was wrongfully arrested because of the technology. Detroit police handcuffed Robert Williams in front of his wife and daughters after facial recognition software falsely identified him as a suspect in a robbery. Researchers say facial recognition software is up to 100 times more likely to misidentify people of color than white people.
The End of Asylum? Supreme Court Sides with Trump Administration on Fast-Tracking Deportations
The Supreme Court handed the Trump administration a major victory Thursday when it ruled the government can fast-track deportations of asylum seekers without first allowing them to fight for their cases in front of a judge. The ACLU’s Lee Gelernt argued the case in court on behalf of Tamil asylum seeker Vijayakumar Thuraissigiam. “It’s a very serious decision and will adversely affect many, many asylum seekers,” says Gelernt.
Thinking Inside the Box
Domino’s has been called a tech company that also sells pizza. But people are relying on its deliveries now more than ever.
Help! How Do I Get Out of Being a Bridesmaid in a Wedding I Agreed to Pre-Pandemic?
I don’t want to come off as a bad friend, but I also don’t want to risk getting or spreading COVID-19.
Dear Care and Feeding: My Mother Viciously Shamed My Weight. Can I Keep Her Away From My Kids?
Parenting advice on abusive grandmothers, egg aversions, and gender policing.
How McKinsey Helps Companies Avoid Responsibility
The “best available advice” is usually what’s best for the C-suite.
The Government’s Response to the Coronavirus May Have Actually Cut the Poverty Rate
By some measures, livelihoods actually improved when the economy locked down. It’s up to Congress to keep them that way.
Top White House economist set to depart amid coronavirus recession
The acting chair of the CEA will leave Trump without another senior economist as discussions start about a new economic aid package.
‘It’s going to be a slow slog’: Economists knock down hopes of quick rebound
“We have a long road ahead of us to get those people back to work,” Jerome Powell said earlier this week.
Powell’s warning on pandemic clashes with Trump’s upbeat tweets
“Significant uncertainty remains about the timing and strength of the recovery,” Powell said.
Kudlow says $600 additional unemployment checks will end in July
He said that “almost all businesses” understand the $600 additional benefit is “a disincentive.
Fed sees need for more small business aid, citing ‘acute risks’ to survival
The central bank signaled that it would keep interest rates low through 2022.
Outbreak at San Quentin: COVID Is Skyrocketing in CA Prisons. Why Haven’t More People Been Released?
As coronavirus rapidly spreads through California’s overcrowded prisons, 400 people have tested positive for the virus at San Quentin State Prison. Advocates and incarcerated people warn conditions behind bars make it nearly impossible to stop the virus once it enters. We speak with Adnan Khan, executive director of Re:Store Justice, an organization that advocates for policy and alternative responses to violence and life sentences.
How Black Lives Matter Protests Are Shifting Racial Justice Dialogues in Professional Sports
The Black Lives Matter protests are dramatically shifting dialogues about racial justice in sports, says former NBA player, author and activist Etan Thomas. He describes how athletes are forcing a reckoning about systemic racism in professional sports, including in NASCAR, which has rallied around the sole Black driver competing in the Cup Series, Bubba Wallace, who led a push to ban Confederate flags from races. “It’s amazing what’s happening in NASCAR,” Thomas says.
Photos of the Week: Yoga Dome, Iron Lady, Speedo Mick
Mountaintop yoga in China, a sunrise over Glastonbury Tor, a solstice fire in Lithuania, a baby hippo in France, a sneaky gull in Denmark, a field of lavender in England, statues pulled down in the U.S., “Rays of Victory” in Russia, a concert for plants in Spain, a ski run in Australia, and much more.
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to overturn Obamacare
The president is moving forward with the legal attack, even as some Republicans worry it will hurt the party’s electoral prospects.
Trump reportedly open to second round of stimulus checks to boost his reelection chances
Months after direct coronavirus stimulus checks were sent and spent, Donald Trump is getting around to thinking another set of checks would be a good thing for his reelection prospects (because you know he’s not thinking about the well-being of individual Americans). First he’s going to have to convince Republicans in Congress and members of his own administration.
Donald Trump’s “Rocket Ship” Economy Isn’t Taking Off. It’s Exploding.
The plan to reignite business without containing the coronavirus has left us living in the worst possible scenario.
‘You broke my ribs!’: Black man sobs in pain after Georgia cop takes him down for crime he didn’t do
A Black man is accusing a Georgia police department of using excessive force when he was shown on video being grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground by an officer in a takedown the man said broke his ribs. Antonio Smith, the injured man police identified, wasn’t even the suspect officers were looking for, police confirmed on social media Monday after an inquiry from Valdosta Daily Times.
Far-right Idaho legislators’ session whips up extremists’ sound and fury over COVID-19 orders
A cluster of far-right Idaho lawmakers—15 of them out of the 105 there are total—held a “special session” of their own this week in the Statehouse in Boise to decry Gov. Brad Little’s COVID-19 stay-at-home orders as “unconstitutional” and a prime example of “tyranny.” The session, however, had no effect other than to underscore their impotence.
Philadelphia hospital tries to deport undocumented patient as he recovers from a serious accident
This week, the family of an undocumented Guatemalan immigrant who sustained serious injuries in an accident was able to stop his deportation from a Pennsylvania hospital—a deportation organized not by federal immigration authorities, but by the hospital itself.
On May 10, A.V. (initials of the patient used to protect his privacy) was seriously injured in Philadelphia when a man on a motorcycle crashed into him.
America’s winning continues: Macy’s announces it will lay off 3,900 ‘corporate and management jobs’
On Thursday, retail giant Macy’s announced new “restructuring” plans to “address sales impact from the COVID-19 pandemic.” According to Macy’s, the company—like most retail businesses—is facing steep declines in profits as a result of the current public health and economic crises.
Maxine Waters Rips Trump For Focusing More On Dead Confederates Than COVID-19 Toll
Trump’s “negligence and lack of care for the American people is contemptible,” says the California congresswoman, who lost her older sister to the coronavirus.
States plead for help while White House touts success in curbing virus
On private task force calls with states, Pence’s team rarely offers more guidance than what Trump has publicly asserted.