Today's Liberal News

‘Putting their lives at risk’: Coalition urges farmworkers be prioritized for COVID-19 vaccine

The Desert Sun reports that as essential workers, farmworkers will likely have earlier access than most of the public to the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available for distribution. However, a coalition of California farmworker and health advocacy groups including the UFW Foundation (UFWF) say that farmworkers should be prioritized for vaccination at the same time as healthcare workers, who’ll likely be first.

Resettlement agencies say Biden pledge to raise refugee admissions ‘offers hope’

Agencies that have typically worked with the federal government to resettle refugees in the U.S. have welcomed the pledge from President-elect Joe Biden to raise admissions to 125,000 annually. I wrote “typically worked” because the outgoing administration has decimated the resettlement program, reducing admissions to record lows and leading to the closure of some agencies.

Answers to Every Possible Pandemic-Thanksgiving Question

Editor’s Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers. Find the collection here. Most years, in the anxious days before Thanksgiving, I write a health-related FAQ. It’s meant to be fun, reminding us of the timeless risks that spike every year around this day, such as Salmonella poisoning and fires from exploding turkeys.This year is different.

Hillbilly Elegy Is One of the Worst Movies of the Year

“Everyone in this world is one of three kinds,” declares Mamaw (played by Glenn Close), the wise grand-matriarch of Ron Howard’s new film, Hillbilly Elegy. “A good Terminator, a bad Terminator, and neutral.” I hate to correct Mamaw, who is trying to encourage her impressionable grandson, J. D. Vance (Gabriel Basso), to follow a righteous path by invoking Arnold Schwarzenegger’s beloved action franchise.

Biden’s Sleepily Reassuring Appointments

The name “Sleepy Joe” was meant to be pejorative rather than prophetic. But today President-elect Joe Biden’s team leaked the names of three likely appointees, and they are the equivalent of a warm cup of Ovaltine with a melatonin chaser. According to reports, Antony Blinken, Barack Obama’s deputy secretary of state, will be nominated for secretary of state.

A People’s Vaccine? Drugmakers Set to Profit from COVID Vaccines Made with Publicly Funded Research

With the world pinning its hopes on a successful coronavirus vaccine to curb the pandemic, corporate watchdogs say much of the research and development of the medicines rely on publicly funded research. “The investment in these vaccines, as for most drugs, has really been underwritten by the taxpayer, by the government,” says Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen.

“Frankenstein’s Monster”: Judge Slams Trump Team’s Efforts to Overturn Election Results

As President Trump’s unprecedented campaign to overturn the results of the presidential election drags on, over two dozen lawsuits filed by his legal team have been dismissed or withdrawn. The Trump team is now focusing on delaying or blocking the certification of the election in several states while trying to toss out votes in cities with large Black populations, including Detroit, Philadelphia and Atlanta.

Why Won’t Emily Murphy Just Do Her Job?

I don’t know for certain that Emily Murphy gets up in the morning, looks in the mirror and says to herself, “You are a good person.” But I am willing to bet that she does. Most people in her position—most people who are undermining the rules of their group, destroying their institution, harming their society—are doing so because they have become convinced that they are good people, virtuous people, brave people, dedicated people.

The World’s Most Important Videoconference

Inside the headquarters of the Department of Commerce in downtown Washington, D.C., just around the corner from the White House, sits an expansive suite of offices reserved for the American government-in-waiting.