U.S. unemployment claims drop to 198,000
The four-week average, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, fell to just above 199,000, the lowest level since October 1969.
Today's Liberal News
Despite supply issues and Omicron, holiday sales rise 8.5%
The results, which covered Nov. 1 through Dec. 24, were fueled by purchases of clothing and jewelry.
Health spending growth more than doubled in first year of pandemic
Nearly the entire increase came from the burst of federal spending as the government mobilized to contain the spread of the virus.
Fed clears path for multiple rate hikes during election year as prices surge
The Fed plans to cease its bond buys entirely by March, rather than its earlier target of June to give itself room to begin raising interest rates as early as the second quarter of next year.
Inflation accelerates at lightning pace in new setback for Biden
Costs for key goods and services soared 0.8 percent for the month and 6.8 percent for the year, the highest since 1982, the Labor Department reported Friday.
Democracy Now! at 25: Celebrating a Quarter-Century of Independent News on the Frontlines
Democracy Now! first aired on nine community radio stations on February 19, 1996, on the eve of the New Hampshire presidential primary. In the 25 years since that initial broadcast, the program has greatly expanded, airing today on more than 1,500 television and radio stations around the globe and reaching millions of people online.
Chomsky Blasts the “Torture” of Julian Assange & Biden’s Provocative Acts Against China
Noam Chomsky decries what he calls the torture of imprisoned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. He also critiques the Biden administration’s reckless foreign policy. “The trajectory is not optimistic,” Chomsky says. “The worst case is the increasing provocative actions towards China. That’s very dangerous.
Noam Chomsky on Rising Fascism in U.S., Class Warfare & the Climate Emergency
Noam Chomsky warns the Republican Party is “marching” the world to destruction by ignoring the climate emergency while embracing proto-fascism at home. Chomsky talks about the January 6 insurrection, how neoliberalism is a form of class warfare and how President Biden’s climate plans fall short of what is needed.
Noam Chomsky: Corporate Patents & Rising Anti-Science Rhetoric Will Prolong Pandemic
Today, a special broadcast: an hour with Noam Chomsky, the world-renowned political dissident, linguist and author, who just turned 93 years old. Chomsky spoke to Democracy Now! prior to the discovery of the Omicron coronavirus variant, but he predicted new variants would emerge.
Arundhati Roy on the Media, Vaccine Inequity, Authoritarianism in India & Challenging U.S. Wars
We go to New Delhi, India, to speak with acclaimed Indian author and activist Arundhati Roy about the pandemic, U.S. militarism and the state of journalism. Roy first appeared on Democracy Now! after receiving widespread backlash for speaking out against the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. At the time, her emphatic antiwar stance clashed with the rising tides of patriotism and calls for war after 9/11. “Now the same media is saying what we were saying 20 years ago,” says Roy.
Here’s a little positivity for the new year: Marjorie Taylor Greene’s banned from Twitter
The personal Twitter account for the COVID-19 misinformation expert Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene herself was permanently suspended after “repeated violations,” Twitter announced on Sunday. How’s that for bringing in the new year right? “We permanently suspended the account you referenced (@mtgreenee) for repeated violations of our COVID-19 misinformation policy,” Twitter said in a statement NBC News obtained.
Anti-vaxx Chronicles: The OG, Herman Cain himself
This series documents stories from the Herman Cain Awards subreddit. tracking the COVID mis- and disinformation on Facebook that is leading to so many deaths. Today’s cautionary tale is Herman Cain, who died for Donald Trump. Who is this guy that has this award named after him?
Herman Cain was one of a handful of prominent Black conservatives riding that juicy grift for years.
Watch: Bigg’s killer whales hunting seals along rocky Salish Sea coastline
There are two distinct populations of killer whales in the Salish Sea. The most famous are the so-called Southern Resident killer whales, an endangered clan currently down to 73 members. But there’s an entirely different orca ecotype—who have not had any kind of genetic interaction, according to scientists, for at least 300,000 years and perhaps longer, with the SRKWs—who are known as “transient” orcas, scientifically known as “Bigg’s” whales.
New Zealand journalist becomes the first person with a Māori face tattoo to present primetime news
As 2021 comes to an end, we celebrate another first for representation—this time not in the U.S. but in New Zealand. A Māori journalist made history in New Zealand by becoming the first person with traditional facial markings to host a primetime news program on national television. Making headlines worldwide, Oriini Kaipara was the first person to have Indigenous markings on her face while reading Newshub Live 6 PM news bulletin in a prime spot on Christmas Day.
Late-night taco truck adventures pay off
It was after 9 PM on Isla Mujeres, a lovely little island in Mexico just off the edge of the Yucatan peninsula. I had been in-country for 24 hours. I had finished a dinner hours earlier of panuchos and taquitos but as a traveling woman with a ravenous appetite egged on by much mezcal, I accepted an invitation to search for good street food just before midnight.
‘Stop Listening To The Pillow Guy,’ Trump Is No ‘King,’ Warns General
“Start learning about our country and how it’s actually supposed to run,” retired Brig. General Steven Anderson urged Trump supporters on CNN.
Cheney: Trump Watched Jan. 6 Violence On TV, Ignored Pleas To Intervene
“When a president refuses to tell the mob to stop, when he refuses to defend any of the coordinate branches of government, he cannot be trusted,” she said.
Rep. Jamie Raskin Recalls Son’s Suicide Just Days Before Jan. 6 Capitol Riot
“I’ve already lost my son, the thing most precious to me, but I’m not going to see American democracy go down the tubes,” said Raskin, who is investigating the attack.
‘You can’t really manufacture doctors and nurses that don’t exist’
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said his state is trying everything it can to ensure it has enough health care workers.
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Personal Twitter Account Permanently Suspended
The Georgia Republican was given the boot after repeatedly violating Twitter’s COVID-19 misinformation policy, the company said.
Jan. 6 Committee Prepares To Go Public As Findings Mount
“The full picture is coming to light, despite President Trump’s ongoing efforts to hide the picture,” said Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney.
Even My Business-School Students Have Doubts About Capitalism
During a lecture in my Modern Political Economy class this fall, I explained—as I have to many students over the course of four decades in academia—that capitalism’s adaptation to globalization and technological change had produced gains for all of society. I went on to say that capitalism has been an engine of wealth creation and that corporations seeking to maximize their long-term shareholder value had made the whole economy more efficient.
Thinking of My Wife as a Child by the Sea, While We Clean Mussels Together
Before prising keel worms off the backs of mussels,
we have to tap them with a knife, when good sense, fear,
life, shuts their lips. I do chop the lemongrass. I do close
the lid. Their bodies inside are soft. It hurts me to do it,
but not for long. We bring the shell-clatter after to the loch
with our dog and son. I love this quiet house by the water
and lighting the fire and imagining my wife as a child
throwing a sweater over her pajamas to cycle with no hands
by the sea.
Trump Is Making the Midterms a Referendum on Himself
When the 2022 midterm elections are appraised less than a year from now, the Washington commentariat will in all likelihood render them to have been a devastating blow to Joe Biden’s presidency.Barring a historic anomaly, Democrats will have lost at least one chamber of Congress, Biden’s remaining legislative goals will be placed on life support, and the growing anguish over the party’s 2024 presidential nominee will transform into a panic.
Biden officials now fear booster programs will limit global vaccine supply
A looming shortage of doses for low- and moderate-income countries puts increased pressure on Novavax to obtain regulatory approvals for global manufacturing.
J&J’s booster shown effective against Covid hospitalization
The results mark the first evidence of the effectiveness of such a vaccine boost while Omicron is circulating.
‘This was the moment’: CDC defends altered guidance amid Omicron surge
Director Rochelle Walensky acknowledged that the decision to shorten the recommended isolation period “really had a lot to do with what we thought people would be able to tolerate.
U.S. sets new daily high for Covid cases
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s tally represents a grim new milestone in the coronavirus pandemic.
FDA: Antigen tests may have reduced sensitivity detecting Omicron
The new warning is based on preliminary studies by the National Institutes of Health’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics initiative.
The Atlantic Daily: What Covid Could Look Like One Year From Now
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.The United States is logging record-setting numbers of coronavirus cases in the final week of 2021. The country is now averaging more than 300,000 new cases per day as it prepares to enter a third calendar year spent battling the pandemic.