Today's Liberal News

Monday Night Owls: Amazon, Walmart make extra billions in pandemic, but still stingy with workers

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

23 DAYS UNTIL JOE BIDEN AND KAMALA HARRIS TAKE THE OATH OF OFFICE

At the Brookings Institute, Molly Kinder and Laura Stateler write—Amazon and Walmart have raked in billions in additional profits during the pandemic, and shared almost none of it with their workers:

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated record profits for America’s biggest companies, as well as immense wealth for their

Cartoon: GOPeanuts

$600 can keep you in the peanuts for a few weeks but it won’t keep you afloat in the “Richest Country In The History of the WORLD.

10 new, underrated books that absolutely deserve a spot on your bookshelf

As the year comes to a close, a lot of publications are rounding up the best books (or movies, or episodes of TV shows, and so on) of the year. In a period when most of us could really, really use a distraction from current events or personal tribulations, books can especially serve as a saving grace. Unfortunately, not all books get the limelight and attention they deserve.

The Atlantic Daily: 10 Must-Read Stories of 2020

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.A lot has happened this year. Today, we’re reflecting on what The Atlantic covered in 2020. Below is a non-exhaustive list of must-read stories, including some of our standout work on the coronavirus, America’s racial reckoning, and the election.

“I Just Felt Like I Had No Control Over My Body”: Survivors of Alleged ICE Medical Abuse Speak Out

Dozens of immigrant women detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia have joined a class-action lawsuit against ICE over allegations they were subjected to nonconsensual and invasive gynecological procedures and surgeries that were later found to be unnecessary, and in some cases left them unable to have children.

“The Priorities Are Wrong”: Rep. Ro Khanna Says He Won’t Vote to Override Trump Veto on Defense Bill

Congress is set to override President Trump’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act, the $740 billion annual defense policy bill that funds the U.S. military. Trump vetoed the legislation last week over objections to liability protections for social media companies and because he did not want to rename military bases currently named for Confederate generals.

Rep. Ro Khanna: $2,000 Stimulus Checks Are Needed, Not More Austerity, Amid Economic & Health Crisis

President Trump has unexpectedly signed a $2.3 trillion spending package that includes a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package. The bill includes direct payments of $600 for most adults, expanded unemployment benefits, aid for small businesses, money for vaccine distribution and a temporary extension of a federal eviction ban. Millions were plunged into uncertainty over the holidays as Trump delayed signing the bill, allowing two unemployment programs to lapse.

An Alternative to Police That Police Can Get Behind

Photographs by Ricardo NagaokaShould American cities defund their police departments? The question has been asked continually—with varying degrees of hope, fear, anger, confusion, and cynicism—since the killing of George Floyd on Memorial Day. It hung over the November election: on the right, as a caricature in attack ads (call 911, get a recording) and on the left as a litmus test separating the incrementalists from the abolitionists.

Dear Therapist: I Can’t Accept My Father’s Death From COVID-19

Editor’s Note: Every Monday, Lori Gottlieb answers questions from readers about their problems, big and small. Have a question? Email her at dear.therapist@theatlantic.com. Dear Therapist,I need help with grieving and my feelings of anger toward this microscopic virus that has taken my father. I know that even when somebody is terminally ill, there’s no way to be fully prepared for loss.

The Problem With ‘Uber for Therapy’

At 10 o’clock one morning this November, Rob Beal’s bosses summoned him and his co-workers onto a mysterious Zoom call. Beal had spent more than two years working as a coach for AbleTo, which provides mental-health services to people through apps, videochats, and calls, like Uber for anxiety.Beal, a 50-year-old former attorney, had devoted himself to his job coaching people through AbleTo’s anxiety and depression programs.

The Year That Changed the Internet

For years, social-media platforms had held firm: Just because a post was false didn’t mean it was their place to do anything about it. But 2020 changed their minds.At the end of May, Twitter for the first time labeled a tweet from the president of the United States as potentially misleading. After Donald Trump falsely insisted that mail-in voting would rig the November election, the platform added a message telling users to “get the facts.