Today's Liberal News

The Era of Risk-Averse Super Bowl Ads

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Every year, Super Bowl advertisers pay millions to appear on screens for a minute or less. The ad slots tend more toward the upbeat than the controversial. But even by the low bar of Super Bowl advertising, this year was rather risk-averse. Sweet animals and mascots abounded.

It’s Time to Worry About DOGE’s AI Plans

Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s chaotic approach to reform is upending government operations. Critical functions have been halted, tens of thousands of federal staffers are being encouraged to resign, and congressional mandates are being disregarded. The next phase: The Department of Government Efficiency reportedly wants to use AI to cut costs.

A New Kind of Crisis for American Universities

Updated at 5:49 p.m. ET on February 10, 2025
“I personally think that the post–World War II system of big research universities funded heavily by the government will not continue.” That’s how one professor at a big state research university responded when I asked how he was feeling about our shared profession. That system is the cornerstone of U.S. higher education—at Harvard or Princeton, yes, but also the University of Michigan and Texas A&M.

Why Is the Trump Administration Deleting a Paper on Suicide Risk?

How can we prevent our suicidal patients from killing themselves? That’s an important question for a primary-care physician like me. I am often in the position of trying to assess—in 15 minutes or less—which patients need urgent treatment. The type of guidance that might help me can be found in a paper that was published in 2022 on PSNet, the Patient Safety Network, a federally funded initiative.

Trump Signals He Might Ignore the Courts

The United States is sleepwalking into a constitutional crisis. Not only has the Trump administration seized for itself extraconstitutional powers, but yesterday, it raised the specter that, should the courts apply the text of the Constitution and negate its plans, it will simply ignore them.

Mustafa Barghouti on Trump, Ethnic Cleansing & Israel “Moving the War” from Gaza to the West Bank

Israel “has moved the war from Gaza to the West Bank,” says the Palestinian National Initiative’s Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, who joins us from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli military’s ongoing assault there has displaced over 35,000 Palestinians through evictions, destruction of infrastructure and indiscriminate attacks resulting in over 80 deaths. Barghouti also condemns Donald Trump’s declaration that the U.S. should take over the Gaza Strip.

“The PayPal Mafia”: Meet the South African Oligarchs Surrounding Trump, from Elon Musk to Peter Thiel

President Trump’s targeting of South Africa is clearly tied to his influential adviser Elon Musk and a coterie of wealthy U.S. oligarchs, “all of whom in some way or other grew up in South Africa as children.” These men are known as the “PayPal mafia” due to their involvement in the founding of the financial tech company PayPal, explains reporter Chris McGreal.

Constitutional Crisis: Who Is Musk’s “DOGE Army,” Gutting Gov’t Agencies as Courts Question Legality?

We look at how Elon Musk’s executive branch agency, the Department of Government Efficiency, known as ”DOGE,” is wreaking havoc, with young male software engineers slashing government services and funding in what legal experts are saying could amount to a “constitutional crisis.” Most of the DOGE staffers are pulled from Musk-linked tech companies and have limited work and educational experience.

Trump Guts EPA’s Environmental Justice Office, Putting Poorest Communities of Color at More Risk

The Trump administration is planning to shutter the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights at the Environmental Protection Agency and has placed nearly 170 employees on administrative leave. “I’m very concerned about the deregulation and the focus on corporate profits,” says Mustafa Santiago Ali, the former head of the environmental justice program at the EPA.

“Authoritarian Rampage”: Trump/Musk Sued to Block DOGE Access to Confidential Info of Millions

A lawsuit by a coalition of labor unions Thursday prompted the Labor Department to agree not to release any sensitive economic and privacy data to DOGE, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency led by billionaire Trump donor Elon Musk. Musk’s group has already gained access to sensitive files and computer systems across other key agencies as part of a push to restructure much of the federal government.