Today's Liberal News
Biden’s spending plans collide with a resurgent U.S. economy
The numbers signal the U.S. is well on its way toward a revival, one that’s widely expected to reach record levels of growth later this year.
Brazil Diplomat Celso Amorim on Bolsonaro, Lula & Why Biden’s Foreign Policy Is So “Disappointing”
As the number of COVID-19 cases surges in Brazil, the country is also facing a major crisis on the political front. The heads of Brazil’s Army, Navy and Air Force all quit in an unprecedented move, a day after far-right President Jair Bolsonaro ousted his defense minister as part of a broader Cabinet shake-up.
“Abhorrent”: Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Trump’s Treatment of Portland Protesters vs. Insurrectionists
Protesters in Portland, Oregon, took to the streets for more than three straight months following the police killing of George Floyd. In July, former President Donald Trump threatened to jail protesters for 10 years for damaging federal buildings in Portland. But months later he praised right-wing insurrectionists who attacked the U.S. Capitol. Trump’s actions were “absolutely abhorrent,” says Oregon Governor Kate Brown.
Oregon Governor Kate Brown Pushes Expanding Vote-by-Mail to Counter GOP Voter Suppression Efforts
As Republican lawmakers across the U.S. move to make it harder for voters to cast ballots by mail, we look at Oregon’s long history of vote-by-mail.
Will Georgia’s Voting Law Be Repealed as Big Business Joins Critics Opposing “Jim Crow” Suppression?
Activists are demanding accountability from Georgia-based companies in opposing a law that heavily restricts voting rights in the state, which many are calling the worst voter suppression legislation since the Jim Crow era. While some companies, including Coca-Cola and Delta, have weighed in on the Republican-backed crackdown on voting rights, Cliff Albright, co-founder and executive director of Black Voters Matter, says voicing opposition is not enough.
What Was VW Thinking With Its “Voltswagen” Prank?
After its diesel fraud, the carmaker tries lying to reporters about its electrical vehicle marketing.
The Past Year Has Been a Small Nightmare of Recurring Charges
It’s time to see if you can cancel your gym membership
White House knew more than a week ago of J&J contractor vaccine-supply problems
Workers at Emergent BioSolutions ruined 15 million doses by mixing ingredients from two Covid-19 vaccines together.
Whistleblower says FDA minimized safety risks at Merck vaccine plant
The facility in Durham, N.C., is set to help produce Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine.
Biden wants to give the nation hope. But a jump in Covid cases is complicating things.
Inside the White House, there is little consensus that there is a surge, or even that it is worth panicking over.
I Just Found Out Why My Boyfriend Won’t Have Sex With Me, and I’m Devastated
He assures me he still loves me and doesn’t want to leave me.
Dear Care and Feeding: I’m in a Spring Break Travel Standoff With My Pandemic-Flouting In-Laws
Parenting advice on spring break, decluttering, and foster family discord.
‘Crazy things happen’: Biden’s next spending spree fuels a fight over risks
The president’s team is preparing a $3 trillion spending proposal to power through Congress. They’re betting markets and the economy will cooperate long enough to pass it.
Black workers, hammered by pandemic, now being left behind in recovery
Structural inequities in the U.S. labor market that have affected Black and Hispanic workers’ ability to advance out of low-paying jobs, as well as discrimination in hiring practices, are also likely having an effect.
Fed sees U.S. economic growth surging to 6.5 percent this year
Central bank officials now expect the unemployment rate to drop to 4.5 percent by the end of 2021.
Treasury secretary minimizes risk of inflation caused by Covid relief package
Janet Yellen said the greater risk was not strengthening the economy as it recovers from the impact of the pandemic.
Former Stockton Mayor Tubbs joins Newsom as economic adviser
He is best known for his work on a Stockton pilot project that provided $500 a month to a small group of low-income residents.
Aging Former Black Panthers Mumia Abu-Jamal & Sundiata Acoli Got COVID-19 & Could Die in Prison
We get an update on political prisoners Mumia Abu-Jamal and Sundiata Acoli, who contracted COVID-19 but have yet to be released. Acoli is a former member of the Black Panther Party who is now 84 years old and has been in prison in New Jersey for nearly half a century, even though he has been eligible for parole for almost three decades. He was denied parole again in February. His crime involved the killing of a state trooper.
Photos of the Week: Worm Moon, Cat Lodge, Red Hearts
A theme park reopening in California, Holi celebrations in India, flooding in Australia, whale watching in Mexico, protests in Turkey, a masked rock concert in Barcelona, a snowy Opening Day in Detroit, China Fashion Week in Beijing, tulip fields in Italy, and much more.
Corporate Criticism Of GOP-led Voting Bills Spreads To Texas
American Airlines, which is based in Fort Worth, came out against restrictive voting measures in Texas.
News Roundup: Infrastructure week; Georgia’s corporate backlash; police knew U.S. Capitol was target
It’s Infrastructure Week, at long last: After four years of Republican stonewalling and inaction, the Biden administration took less than three months to introduce $3 trillion plan to upgrade American roads, mass transit, water pipes, and other neglected public works. Georgia Republicans are under attack from the state’s corporate giants. Meanwhile, investigations of January 6 insurrectionists continue.
Georgia Republicans try to retaliate after Delta Airlines CEO speaks up for voter rights
All across red America, Republicans are promoting COVID-19, trashing democracy, and lying with the same feral abandon that the Abominable Showman himself demonstrated lo these many years.
And because Donald Trump declared by feckless fiat that he actually won the 2020 election in a landslide, Georgia decided they’d like to make it a lot easier for the next right-wing proto-tyrant to steal future elections.
FDA allows Moderna to put more coronavirus vaccine doses in each vial
This change that will likely allow the company to speed up the pace of its shipments.
This Week in Statehouse Action: Can’t Get Fooled Again edition
Yes, I know the headline dates me.
But whatever. It’s that super annoying day of the year when everybody thinks they’re MUCH funnier than they actually are.
But I’m not here for pranks, and the only jokes are the bad ones I make every week.
Frankly, I wish the latest GOP statehouse antics were April Fools pranks.
Alas, they’re all too serious.
How Black Mississippians found their power during Jackson’s water emergency
After the water stopped flowing, a grassroots effort in Jackson is organizing the Black community for future climate and political crises.
By Frances Madeson, for Capital and Main
After two weeks of taking sponge baths, Kalif Wilkes lingered in a long, hot shower with plenty of steam in his Jackson, Mississippi, home. The water had just come back on for this capital city of 160,000.
“The first shower I took, I stayed in there for 45 minutes.
Johnson & Johnson loses millions of doses of vaccine to manufacturing mix-up
On Wednesday, Johnson & Johnson issued a statement saying that the company met its commitment to deliver 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine within the United States by the end of March, and still expects to produce an astounding billion doses around the world before the end of 2021. However, there was definitely some bad news mixed with the good. As in millions of doses of vaccine had to be destroyed, and shipments of new vaccine have been temporarily halted.