The COVID Relief Bill Makes One Big, Risky Bet
It’ll only be enough if the vaccination effort doesn’t blow it.
Today's Liberal News
The first Covid vaccines were triumphs. What if the next are only OK?
Health experts worry that the public could balk if offered a shot that’s only moderately effective.
The 50 Best Podcasts of 2020
This year’s 50 Best came together a little differently than before. Just five years ago we could address a fledgling podcastsphere with the 50 best episodes of the year—not shows. Now, something like 1.5 million podcasts exist. Even if only half of those were active in 2020 we still couldn’t possibly hear them all, no matter how pathological our dedication to listening.
Help! My Brother Has Violent Fantasies About His Ex.
I want to support him through this breakup, but the things he’s said make me ill.
Dear Care and Feeding: Online School Has Accidentally Introduced My 8-Year-Old to Porn
Parenting advice on internet temptations, Santa delays, and Auntie worries.
Help! Should I Make My Wife Sign a Contract for Every Decision We Make?
We make compromises, then she moves the goal posts.
Congress sends Covid package and spending measure to Trump
The president has thrown the fate of the bill into jeopardy.
Fed enters Biden era with clipped wings and a warning from Republicans
Congress curbed the central bank’s emergency lending despite the economy’s continuing struggles.
Biden adds former Obama budget official, onetime Warren aide to economic team
Biden added that the appointees have “broad viewpoints on how to build a stronger and more inclusive middle class.
Fed sees less severe recession this year but warns of tough winter
Officials said they expect the U.S. economy to shrink by 2.4 percent this year, a brighter forecast than they offered just three months ago.
John le Carré (1931-2020) on the Iraq War, Corporate Power, the Exploitation of Africa & More
The world-renowned British novelist John le Carré died on December 12 at the age of 89. Le Carré established himself as a master writer of spy novels in a career that spanned more than half a century. He worked in the British Secret Service from the late 1950s until the early ’60s, at the height of the Cold War — which was the topic of his early novels.
“The United States of America Has Gone Mad”: John le Carré on Iraq War, Israel & U.S. Militarism
The legendary British author John le Carré has died at the age of 89. In the lead-up to the Iraq invasion, John le Carré was a fierce critic of President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. In January 2003, he published a widely read essay called “The United States of America Has Gone Mad.” John le Carré read the essay during an appearance on Democracy Now! in 2010.
Western Sahara: A Rare Look Inside Africa’s Last Colony as U.S. Recognizes Moroccan Occupation
The United States has become the first nation in the world to recognize Morocco’s annexation of Western Sahara. The Trump administration announced the major policy shift on December 10 — International Human Rights Day — as part of a deal that saw Morocco become the fourth Arab nation to normalize ties to Israel in recent months.
California Is 40% Latinx. In Alex Padilla, It Will Finally Have Its First Latinx Senator
California Secretary of State Alex Padilla has been named by Governor Gavin Newsom to replace Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in the U.S. Senate, making history as the first Latinx senator to represent the state. Padilla was first elected to public office at 26, when he joined the Los Angeles City Council, and went on to serve two terms in the state Senate, followed by two terms as the state’s secretary of state.
Diane Ravitch: Biden’s Pick for Education Secretary Must Overturn DeVos’s Attack on Public Schools
President-elect Joe Biden has nominated Connecticut public schools commissioner Miguel Cardona for secretary of education, tapping a third Latinx person to join his Cabinet. Cardona is a former teacher who represents a sharp break from outgoing Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who urged career employees at the Education Department earlier this month to “be the resistance” to the incoming administration.
The New York Post Rips Trump’s ‘Shameful’ Attack On Fair Vote As ‘Undemocratic Coup’
“Mr. President, it’s time to end this dark charade,” the editorial began in the tabloid, owned by Trump’s right-wing backer Rupert Murdoch.
Sunday Night Owls: Climate hawks ponder whether Paris accord can be leveraged into something better
Night Owls, a themed open thread, appears at Daily Kos seven days a week
24 DAYS UNTIL JOE BIDEN AND KAMALA HARRIS TAKE THE OATH OF OFFICE
Bob Berwyn at Inside Climate News writes—Five Years After Paris, Where Are We Now? Facing Urgent Choices.
What will you take away from 2020?
In thinking about how to describe 2020, I’m reminded of a TV show that compared all of the events over the course of an awful year in an effort to make sense of it. History books tell us the year 1937 was not a good one for the people of Earth. Japan invaded China, leading to numerous atrocities including the Nanjing Massacre. Tens of thousands died as Francisco Franco began to turn the tide in his favor during the Spanish Civil War.
In favor of the weekly meatless meal
Even with Thanksgiving in the shadows, as the holiday season—or simply colder winter months—near, many people are eager to dig into some comforting and hearty cooking. Food can, of course, have a lot of cultural meaning and family memories that go beyond the specifics of any recipe. Food can also have a lot of religious significance for those who celebrate.
Jake Tapper Slams Kayleigh McEnany For Lying The ‘Way Most People Breathe’
Tapper doesn’t interview the White House press secretary because she’s incapable of “acknowledging reality,” and provides “no value” to a news story.
Trump signs spending bill with relief package, but still wants $2,000 checks and other changes
Emily Cochrane at The New York Times reports:
President Trump on Sunday abruptly signed a measure providing $900 billion in pandemic aid and funding the government through September, ending last-minute turmoil he himself had created over legislation that will offer an economic lifeline to millions of Americans and avert a government shutdown.
The signing was a sudden reversal for the president, who last week appeared poised to derail the bill.
While pandemic deaths soar, Mike Pence is on an extended ski vacation
The United States is facing still-rising pandemic deaths and both a federal government shutdown and the end of supplemental unemployment checks to those newly out of work, but Donald Trump is, of course, currently on vacation. You may be wondering where the ostensible head of the White House coronavirus “task force” has gotten to, since we haven’t heard much from him either.
Alleged vice president Mike Pence is in Vail, Colorado.
Trump Begrudgingly Signs COVID-19 Relief Bill, Government Spending, Averting Shutdown
After criticizing the government funding and emergency coronavirus relief as wasteful and inadequate, the president ended up signing it.
Trump backs down, signs stimulus package
A government shutdown was averted after the president approved the Covid relief package and annual spending bill.
Bernie Sanders: Trump Needs To Stop ‘Diddling Around’ On COVID-19 Relief Bill
“We may be looking at a government shutdown in the midst of the most difficult moment in modern American history,” Sanders said.
Governors on Covid-19 policies: ‘We were all trying to figure this thing out as we went’
Larry Hogan and Gretchen Whitmer say they have few regrets about their handling of the pandemic so far.
GOP Senator: Trump Will Be Remembered For ‘Chaos And Misery’ If COVID-19 Relief Expires
“You don’t get everything you want, even if you’re the president of the United States,” said Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennslyvania.
Adm. Giroir: Not clear if Christmas travel will lead to surge in Covid cases
“It really depends on what the travelers do when they get where they’re going.
Dear Care and Feeding: My Mom Keeps Blaming My Miscarriage on My Weight
Parenting advice on miscarriage, divorce, and friendship.
What the Living Do
Marie Howe’s “What the Living Do” begins with an address to her brother: The kitchen sink has been clogged for days, she writes. The Drano won’t work … it’s winter again … the heat’s on too high.The poem might seem at first like a list of complaints, but it’s a list of gratitudes. Most readers won’t know that Howe’s younger brother John died of AIDS-related complications in 1989.