Today's Liberal News

The Controversy Over Baby Names

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I have two names, but only one exists on paper. When I was born, my parents put my name down as Stephanie, inspired by the Full House character.

Gaza: Doctors Warn Thousands of Palestinians Could Die This Winter from Cold, Hunger, Disease

International outrage is growing over Israel’s abduction of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Jabaliya refugee camp, who was detained after Israeli forces raided and shut down the last major hospital in northern Gaza last week. A new United Nations report finds that Israeli strikes on and near hospitals in the Gaza Strip have “pushed the healthcare system to the brink of total collapse.

Veteran Israeli Negotiator Gershon Baskin: Netanyahu Remains Obstacle to Ceasefire Deal

Gaza is entering its second winter under attack from Israel, and talks to reach a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas appear to have stalled yet again. For more on efforts to end the war and secure the release of captives on both sides, we speak with veteran Israeli negotiator Gershon Baskin, who has acted as a backchannel to Hamas leaders in the current and previous conflicts.

The Most Effective Antidote to ISIS Attacks

The man who murdered at least 15 people with his truck on Bourbon Street last night was flying the black banner of the Islamic State from his truck, according to the FBI. Police shot 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar dead at the scene. So far little else is known about the suspect, but since ISIS flags are not standard options in Ford F-150s, it is reasonable to presume that the driver—a U.S. Army veteran—committed mass murder as an homage to the Islamic State.

Don’t Let Terror Shut America Down

Updated on January 1, 2025, at 2:43 p.m. ET
Despite the devastating terror attack that killed at least 10 people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans in the early-morning hours of New Year’s Day, it seemed at first as though the Sugar Bowl college-football playoff game would continue tonight in the city’s Superdome, less than two miles from the carnage. This afternoon, officials announced they would postpone the game for at least 24 hours.

Birthmark

In California, even the worst
of us is forgiven: flooding roads
lead to freeway superbloom, birds
make nests out of all our trash.
And despite drought, jacarandas
spike purple in July, their roots
cracking the concrete. Once, I
tripped under one, tore the skin
off my knees. And at last removed
the leftover scars of childhood.
My father fell once outside  
the dirtiest apartment I lived
in that overlooked the freeway
on a street where no one walked.

Trump Escalates War on Press & Some Outlets Are “Capitulating Preemptively” to Pressure

We speak with The Nation’s Chris Lehmann about President-elect Donald Trump’s escalating attacks on the press and how major media figures and institutions are “capitulating preemptively” to the pressure. ABC News recently settled a defamation suit brought by Trump by making a $15 million donation to his future presidential library, despite experts saying the case was easily winnable.

“Surveilled”: Ronan Farrow on the Spyware Technology the Trump Admin Could Use to Hack Your Phone

We continue to discuss the new HBO Original film Surveilled and explore the film’s investigation of high-tech spyware firms with journalist Ronan Farrow and director Matthew O’Neill. We focus on the influence of the Israeli military in the development of some of the most widely used versions of these surveillance technologies, which in many cases are first tested on Palestinians and used to enforce Israel’s occupation of Palestine, and on the potential expansion of domestic U.S.

A Spy in Your Pocket? Ronan Farrow Exposes Secrets of High-Tech Spyware in New Film “Surveilled”

Is that a spy in your pocket? In a holiday special we speak to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ronan Farrow and filmmaker Matthew O’Neill about Surveilled, their new HBO documentary looking at how high-tech surveillance spyware is threatening democracy across the globe. As part of the reporting for the documentary, Farrow traveled to Israel for a rare interview with a former employee of NSO Group, the Israeli software company that makes Pegasus.

The President Trump Is Pushing Aside

Only one historic site bears the name of America’s 22nd and 24th president—and it’s no Monticello.
The Grover Cleveland Presidential Library and Museum occupies a one-story building in Caldwell, New Jersey, behind the house where its namesake spent the first few years of his life. The museum is the size of a small living room. A Dunkin’ sits across the street.
The site befits Cleveland’s legacy.