Today's Liberal News

Klobuchar hints she was on Myon Burrell’s side, but deemed him too scary to go to his mom’s funeral

A Black teen convicted of murder when Sen. Amy Klobuchar was a Minnesota prosecutor was released from prison Tuesday after spending 18 years in prison. A pardon board determined the sentence for Myon Burrell, 34, was inappropriate for a child, the Star Tribune reported. Dressed in an Islamic thobe, he told supporters who had gathered outside of Stillwater prison to celebrate his release that he can’t express his gratitude.

Ho ho holy superspreader: Santa and Mrs. Claus test positive for COVID-19 after Georgia event

Cases of the novel coronavirus are increasing at a rapid rate across the U.S. and health officials worry this trend will only increase as the holiday season continues. Despite recommendations that large gatherings should not take place amid the coronavirus pandemic, some continue to host public events.

The risk of spread as a result of these gatherings is not only high but extremely likely.

This Week in Statehouse Action: What Bill Is This? edition

THIS IS IT, PEOPLE

… the last edition of This Week in Statehouse Action of the year, I mean.

And yes, it’s been a year.

And no, it’s not over.

And no, 2021 isn’t necessarily going to be any better.

In some ways, it’s actually going to be worse.

Oh, you thought we were going out on a sunny, hopeful note?

I am so, so sorry.

But you come here for bad jokes honesty.

’43 times’: Anjanette Young told Chicago police they were in the wrong home as she stood naked

Of all people, I expect more from Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the first Black woman to lead the city and the first LGBTQ person to do so as well. She, however, is being accused of actively trying to cover up the horrific injustice that left Anjanette Young, a Black social worker, naked with police body-cameras rolling in her own home, the wrong home in a horribly botched city raid on Feb. 21, 2019. “I was terrified.

A Day of Deaths 25 Percent Higher Than Spring’s Worst

Editor’s Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers. Find the collection , Southern California has reached 711 new cases per 100,000 people in the past seven days—more than double the Bay Area’s number—and Los Angeles County alone has reported more than 91,000 new cases in the past week.

The Atlantic Daily: Four December Don’ts

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.JAN BUCHCZIKWith two weeks left in the year, the pull of home is especially strong for many Americans. But long before the first snowflakes fell, we knew this winter would be a difficult one. And now, with coronavirus cases setting records, gatherings are riskier than ever.

The First Major Anti-MLM Platform

This week, when TikTok announced an updated version of its community guidelines, one small addition was more surprising than the others. Under a section of policy prohibiting various types of “Frauds and Scams”—which used to focus on outright Ponzi schemes, get-rich-quick hoaxes, and phishing attempts—the company became the first major social-media platform to declare that multilevel marketing was verboten as well.

The Year of Ambitious TV Watching

My biggest accomplishment of the year was a bloody mess. The project started simply enough, but within weeks, I found myself regularly staring at contorted limbs and gaping wounds. Soon few things marked the end of my workday more clearly than a grisly episode of Dexter, the mid-aughts Showtime series about a forensic analyst who moonlights as a serial killer.

Congress’s COVID Relief Bill Includes Direct Checks. It’s Still Not Enough to Help Most Vulnerable

After months of inaction, Congress finally appears close to passing a second, $900 billion coronavirus stimulus package. The agreement is likely to include additional unemployment assistance of $300 a week and one-time direct cash payments of between $600 and $700 for people in the U.S. — a sharp reduction from the first COVID check of $1,200. The COVID-19 relief checks were put back in the bill after a major push from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

“No Reason to Let Up” on Masks as U.S. COVID-19 Deaths & Infections Skyrocket During Vaccine Rollout

As the “very exciting” rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution gets underway in the United States, Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, says the country is still experiencing “astronomical” numbers of new infections and deaths. “We’ve just had a federal government that has given up on any efforts to try and control the pandemic,” he says.

As Wealthy Countries Hoard Vaccine Supply, Pandemic Could Rage in Poor Countries Until 2024

Health experts are raising concerns that wealthy countries have reserved enough coronavirus vaccine doses to immunize their populations multiple times over, while poorer countries may only have enough to vaccinate about 20%. Reuters reports the World Health Organization’s global plan for delivering COVID-19 vaccines to 91 poor and middle-income countries faces a “very high” risk of failure and could leave billions of people with no access to vaccines until 2024.