Today's Liberal News

Wednesday Night Owls: A glimpse of the future of work, which isn’t optimistic for big cities

Night Owls is a themed open thread appearing at Daily Kos seven days a week.

Derek Thompson at The Atlantic writes—Superstar Cities Are in Trouble. The past year has offered a glimpse of the nowhere-everywhere future of work, and it isn’t optimistic for big cities.

Some evenings, when pandemic cabin fever reaches critical levels, I relieve my claustrophobia by escaping into the dreamworld of Zillow, the real-estate website.

Missouri Republican indicted on fraud charges for selling fake COVID-19 stem cell treatments

On Monday, the FBI released a statement about the indictment of an elected Missouri state representative for allegedly being involved in a fraud scheme that involved fake medicine, money, and COVID-19. Patricia “Tricia” Ashton Derges (R-Nixa) is facing a 20-count indictment for her part in promoting and trying to make money off of scared clients looking for a miracle treatment Derges said she could provide to treat COVID-19.

ICE now detaining women at one of nation’s most deadly facilities

A Georgia detention center with the second-highest COVID-19 rate in the nation recently expanded the population of immigrants it detains to include women.

In a statement to Prism, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed that as of Jan. 27, the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, detains 11 women. This is an increase from December when the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Stewart had two women in custody.

Verizon and AT&T cut nearly 100,000 jobs but keep billions in tax breaks

The Republican tax giveaway to the richest people in our country extended into the businesses they owned. Then Majority-Leader Mitch McConnell told everyone that he believed the new jobs and trickling of wealth into society would make the tax cuts “be beyond revenue neutral.” This means that the hit to our country’s collective coffers would be taken up by all the piles of money these businesses and wealthy folks would gift everybody.

Vaccine Centers in Cathedrals, Stadiums, and Parking Lots

As more vaccines against COVID-19 become available and distribution keeps ramping up, governments and health-care institutions worldwide have set up centers to deliver as many vaccinations as possible. Gymnasiums, sports venues, and existing clinics have been readied, and early candidates are now passing through. Efforts are already under way in some areas to reach vulnerable populations living in remote regions as well.

Fewer Americans Are Getting COVID-19 Tests

During the early stages of the pandemic, the big story in the United States was testing: The federal government’s initial failure to produce a working test and scale up its production meant that the country struggled for months to keep up with the virus’s spread. In May, the Harvard Global Health Institute estimated that the U.S.

How Our Relationships Affect What We Eat

In my first serious long-term relationship, my ex hated three things that I loved—salmon, spicy food, and runny egg yolks. Food was often a bone of contention. I was a chef then and found it soul-crushing when my ex chose a Kraft Singles grilled cheese sandwich and a bowl of Campbell’s tomato soup over the many meals I made.

‘I Expected a Bidding War. We Did Not Get That.’

Shaka King’s new film, Judas and the Black Messiah, is both a prestige picture and a pulpy thriller. It’s a biographical portrait of the Illinois Black Panther chairman Fred Hampton (played by Daniel Kaluuya), who by the age of 21 had become a major figure in the national party and founded the Rainbow Coalition movement.

Newtown’s Congresswoman Takes on Marjorie Taylor Greene

Jahana Hayes stood before her history class at John F. Kennedy High School in Waterbury, Connecticut, trying to assuage her students’ fears. Someone had started shooting at an elementary school 18 miles away; Hayes’s students were scrolling through texts and social media, trying to understand what was going on. She tried to keep everyone calm—to put the students first—even as she was still processing what was happening.Just after 9:30 a.m.

A Coup in Burma: Did Military Seize Power to Avoid ICC Prosecution for Rohingya Genocide?

We speak with a Burmese dissident about the military coup underway in Burma as de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been arrested. The coup unfolded hours before lawmakers were to take their seats in the opening of parliament, following a November election in which Aung San Suu Kyi’s party won over 80% of the contested seats in the Burmese parliament and the military made unsubstantiated claims of fraud.