Today's Liberal News

Another Disastrous Year of ChatGPT School Is Beginning

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Year three of AI college is about to begin, and instructors across the country still seem to have no clue how to handle the technology: no good way to stop students from using ChatGPT to write essays, and no clear way to instruct students on how AI might enhance their work.

Paralympics Photo of the Day: A Long Jumper With Wings

Emilio Morenatti / AP
The Paralympic athlete Arjola Dedaj of Team Italy competes in the women’s long jump T11, at Stade de France, wearing a butterfly-shaped blindfold, during the 2024 Paralympics on August 30, 2024. The T11 class is for runners with near-total visual impairment, and all competitors wear full blindfolds. The long jumpers rely on guides to help them with audio cues as they approach the takeoff board.

The Last Social Network

While killing time recently, I was scrolling through my phone and learned that a childhood friend had gone out for pizza. Two guys from my high school are now roommates (nice to see they are still in touch!). And a friend of my brother’s had gotten tickets for a Cubs game.
I saw all of this on Venmo. The popular payment app is primarily a way for people to send one another money, maybe with an informative or amusing description. But it has also long had a peculiar social feature.

Six Degrees of Trump and Bacon

Donald Trump frequently warns that wind turbines are killing birds. Last night in Wisconsin, he raised a new and opposite concern: They’re leading to fewer hogs being killed.
At a town-hall event, a young man asked the former president about the cost of meat, and he replied with a meandering answer that somehow connected wind farms to a decrease in bacon consumption. As with a lot of Trump quotations, you have to read or watch it at full length to even attempt to follow it.

“Master Plan”: New Lever Podcast Series Traces How Oligarchs “Legalized Corruption” in U.S.

Investigative journalist David Sirota, founder and editor-in-chief of The Lever, is the host of a new podcast series exploring how extremist ideologues and wealthy oligarchs have developed a system of legalized corruption in the U.S. Master Plan traces the decadeslong conservative-led plan to increase the role of money in politics. “This was a plan, a specific plan, to deregulate the campaign finance laws,” says Sirota.

“Opportunity Economy”: Kamala Harris Promotes Expanded Child Tax Credit, Regulating Price Gouging

Vice President Kamala Harris gave her first major interview Thursday since becoming the Democratic nominee, laying out her plans for “an opportunity economy” if she becomes president. Sociologist Nikhil Goyal, author of Live to See the Day: Coming of Age in American Poverty, says Harris’s support for policies like an expanded child tax credit shows a clear contrast between herself and Republican nominee Donald Trump.

From Decriminalization to Border Crackdown, Harris Defends Hard-Line Shift in 1st Interview as Nominee

In her first major interview since ascending to the top of the Democratic ticket, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris was questioned by CNN’s Dana Bash about her policy positions and campaign platform. We begin with a look at Harris’s increasingly rightward stance on immigration and border policy with immigration activist Erika Andiola. As she touted her support for hard-line border security and asylum policies, Harris positioned herself as tougher on immigration than Trump.

Harris and Walz Ease Into Prime Time

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have now completed their CNN interview. On social media and cable TV, the responses have broken down pretty much as one might expect. Democrats think it was a home run. Republicans are sour and churlish. The truth is that the interview was a solid and competent outing, which is all it needed to be.

The Tech-Trump Alliance

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Some of the most prominent figures in Silicon Valley are enthusiastically supporting Donald Trump’s campaign. And Trump’s running mate, J. D.

The Dome Is Watching You

On a recent Wednesday night in Los Angeles, I was ready to buy a hot dog with my face.
I was at the Intuit Dome, a $2 billion entertainment complex that opened earlier this month. Soon, it will be the home of the L.A. Clippers, but I was there to watch Olivia Rodrigo, queen of teen angst, perform a sold-out show. The arena was filled with people wearing purple cowboy hats and the same silver sequin miniskirt, all of us ready to scream-sing for two hours straight. But first, we needed food.

Paralympics Photo of the Day: A Perilous Challenge

Michel Euler / AP
Mason Symons of the United States and Mike Whitehead of Canada vie for the ball during the 2024 Paralympics wheelchair rugby match between United States and Canada on August 29, 2024, at the Champ de Mars Arena in Paris. Wheelchair rugby, also known as “murderball,” can offer some of the most physical and fierce competition in any arena.

The Challenge of Negotiating With Xi Jinping

As China’s leader, Xi Jinping, intensifies his campaign to reshape the U.S.-led global order, the big question hanging over international affairs is: How will he choose to do it? Xi purports to be a man of peace, offering the world fresh ideas on diplomacy and security that could resolve global conflicts.

Warnings of Nuclear Catastrophe as Power Plants in Russia and Ukraine at Risk Amid Escalating War

As Ukrainian forces press their counteroffensive deeper into Russian territory, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has warned of the heightened risk of a nuclear catastrophe from fighting near the Kursk power plant. The war between the two countries, now in its third year, has also impacted the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, controlled by Russian forces in the occupied southeastern part of Ukraine.

“Gender Apartheid”: Taliban Approves Law in Afghanistan Requiring Women Remain Silent in Public

The Taliban government in Afghanistan is drawing renewed outrage over a new law banning women’s voices in public, forcing them to completely cover their bodies and faces out of the home, and more. This comes after the Taliban banned women from working in most fields and ended girls’ education past primary school following their takeover of the country in 2021.