Today's Liberal News

Pandemic Data Are Stalling Out

Editor’s Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers. Find the collection here. As expected, our picture of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States in the past week is muddied by incomplete and delayed data, the result of the Thanksgiving holiday and long weekend.

The Atlantic Appoints Nicholas Thompson as CEO and Expands Board of Directors

The Atlantic announced that Nicholas Thompson, the editor in chief of Wired, will become its CEO in the new year. Thompson will begin as CEO in February 2021.In their announcement to The Atlantic’s staff, owners Laurene Powell Jobs and David Bradley wrote: “Nick is singular; we’ve seen no one like him. As to leading and supporting Atlantic strategy, Nick brings a surround-sound coverage of relevant experience.

The New Comedy of American Decline

Last month, the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia published its , right down to the clear-eyes/full-hearts–style BELIEVE poster he tapes above his new team’s locker-room door). The quality that most defines Ted, however, is his curiosity. That is how Ted Lasso, a show so similar in structure to Emily in Paris, can read so differently from it. Emily’s ignorance is existential; Ted’s is conditional.

Indian Farmers Lead Historic Strike & Protests Against Narendra Modi, Neoliberalism & Inequality

As COVID rages through India, which has the second-highest number of reported cases worldwide, hundreds of thousands of farmers are converging on the capital New Delhi to demand the government repeal new laws that deregulate agricultural markets, saying the reforms give major corporations power to set crop prices far below current rates and devastate the livelihoods of farmers. Agriculture is the leading source of income for more than half of India’s 1.3 billion people.

Ethnic Cleansing Feared as Ethiopia Wages War on Tigray Region Amid Communication Blackout

The United Nations has reached a deal with Ethiopia’s government to allow humanitarian access to the northern Tigray region and start providing aid. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched military action against regional forces one month ago, setting off a bloody conflict and adding to the already alarming number of displaced people and refugees in the country and neighboring nations.

A Massacre in Lagos: Nigerian Military Forced to Admit It Fired Live Rounds at Peaceful Protesters

A CNN investigation has exposed the Nigerian Army’s role in a deadly attack on protesters in the capital city of Lagos in October, when soldiers opened fire on protesters gathered at Lekki toll gate, a key roadway and protest site. At least 12 people were killed in the massacre, which the Army initially denied, and capped weeks of demonstrations against the notorious Nigerian police unit known as the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, or SARS.

World AIDS Day Is Grim Reminder of an Ongoing Epidemic, with 700,000 Dead from HIV/AIDS in 2019

December 1 is World AIDS Day, and as the world waits on an effective vaccine for COVID-19, we look at the ongoing AIDS epidemic and how the coronavirus has threatened treatment for those living with HIV. Author and journalism professor Steven Thrasher says the coronavirus has amplified racial, class and other disparities, just as AIDS has done for decades, and that treatments must have an antiracist and anti-capitalist foundation in order to be successful.

Britain’s Vaccine Nationalism

“This is going to be a fantastic year for Britain,” read the tweet, posted by Boris Johnson. Underneath, the prime minister was pictured staring resolutely into the camera, both thumbs up in the air. The date was January 2, 2020—11 months ago, but seemingly from a different world.

Wednesday Night Owls. Jason Furman: What it will take to build back a better economy?

Night Owls, a themed open thread, appears at Daily Kos seven days a week

Jason Furman is professor of the Practice of Economic Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and in the Department of Economics at Harvard University. He served as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Obama administration. At Foreign Affairs, he writes—The Crisis Opportunity.  What It Will Take to Build Back a Better Economy:

[…] The natural disaster is not over.

Betsy DeVos’ family keeps a $40M yacht all over America but dodges taxes by flying Cayman flag

One of the many good things about a new president is that most, if not all, of the people one associates with the last president leave office. That includes the secretary of education, Betsy DeVos. DeVos came into her position, like most of the Trump Cabinet, based on either being a billionaire or having close relationships with billionaires. Like most billionaires, DeVos has been successful at one thing: Making a billion dollars.

The Darkest Stretch of the Pandemic Is Here

Today the United States blew by two grim pandemic milestones. The country recorded a record 195,695 coronavirus cases and reported 100,226 hospitalizations, passing the 100,000 mark for the first time, according to the COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic. While the 2,733 deaths today did not break the all-time record, this was the first day since May with more than 2,500 deaths, as well as the day with the second-most deaths so far.