Today's Liberal News

Nuts & Bolts—Inside a Democratic campaign: Education will always be an issue

Welcome to Nuts & Bolts, a guide to Democratic campaigns. I’ve helped write this series for years, using information from campaign managers, finance directors, field directors, trainers, and staff, responding to questions from Daily Kos members, and addressing issues that are sent to me via kosmail through Daily Kos.

When I first started doing Democratic campaign work, talking about education was one of the only issues that Democratic campaigns felt safe discussing.

Graham gets temporary stay that ‘significantly delays’ grand jury probe

Sen. Lindsey Graham has been trying his best to evade a subpoena requiring him to testify before a special purpose grand jury (SPGJ) assembled in Georgia’s Fulton County to investigate GOP efforts to undermine the results of the 2020 presidential election. A federal appeals court gave him reason for brief relief on Sunday in the form of a temporary stay, according to a court order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

Rhode Island students sued for the right to civics lessons. Now they will ensure others benefit

by Kio Herrera

This article was originally published at Prism.

On June 15, 2022, Rhode Island’s Department of Education reached an agreement with the plaintiffs of a class action lawsuit filed by parents and students claiming the state’s public schools had violated their constitutional rights by failing to adequately prepare students to be active and productive civic participants in society.

Cook v.

The GOP’s calls to defund the FBI are not hypocritical

In the wake of the FBI raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residency, GOP leaders across the nation, along with mainstream conservative media outlets, are calling for the defunding of the FBI, political violence, civil war, and the overthrow of the U.S. government.

DEFUND THE FBI!— Rep.

Privacy

Only one person knew
the second timeI had an abortion;
over the phone, we tradedcalm through long-distance
shapelessness, our flattenedforms. Years later,
he and I talk about rivers  we want to visit. Again,
each other’s bodies only  near in recollection. He reads
different names into my ear:Missouri. Platte. I offer
back: Rogue.Oxbow.

Xi Jinping’s Radical Secrecy

Xi Jinping has never given a press conference. He is the head of China’s ruling Communist Party—a colossal, sprawling political machine with 96.7 million members—yet he does not have a press secretary. His office does not preannounce his domestic travel or visitor log. He does not tweet.What are billed by the official media as important speeches are typically not released until months after Xi has delivered them in closed forums.

Amazon’s Dangerous New Acquisition

Earlier this month, Amazon announced that it was buying the Roomba vacuum maker iRobot. On the surface, this move looks like a massive online retail marketplace acquiring a popular gadget to sell to its loyal shoppers. Roomba is a sparkling consumer product, and iRobot has sold 40 million of them over the past two decades. Shoppers today find them occupying end caps at big retailers such as Costco and Target.

Is Politics Filling the Void of Religion?

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.The Atlantic writer Helen Lewis, now an atheist, was raised in the Catholic Church. She was once asked if her feminist convictions as an adult play a similar role to the Catholicism of her youth.

Eight Books That Will Lead You Down a Rabbit Hole

There is something particularly literary about obsession. After all, being inside a good book can feel like being tugged down a rabbit hole, without an end in sight. To read a novel is to absorb the thoughts of another, to limit your point of view to the pages in front of you—to see, in your mind’s eye, what is depicted or suggested but not literally there.

A New Way to Think About Our Filing Systems

In The Filing Cabinet: A Vertical History of Information, Craig Robertson chronicles the history and influence of the titular 19th-century invention that revolutionized offices. The machine—for it was advertised as a piece of high-tech equipment rather than as a mundane furniture item—promised corporations a new level of capitalist efficiency. All company information could be quickly classified and stored according to a rigid system, and then just as easily retrieved.

“No Tech for ICE”: Data Broker LexisNexis Sued for Helping ICE Target Immigrant Communities

A coalition of immigrant rights organizations have sued the data broker LexisNexis for collecting detailed personal information on millions of people and then selling it to governmental entities, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The lawsuit alleges LexisNexis has helped create “a massive surveillance state with files on almost every adult U.S. consumer,” and accuses ICE of using information collected by LexisNexis to circumvent local policies in sanctuary cities.

Palestinian NGOs Speak Out After Israeli Forces Raid Offices & Declare Them to Be “Terrorist” Groups

Israeli forces raided and closed the offices of seven Palestinian civil society rights groups in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, six of which Israeli authorities had designated as terrorist groups last year. The raid came as the United Nations condemned Israel for killing 19 Palestinian children in recent weeks, and 100 days after Israeli forces shot dead Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh while covering an Israeli military raid in the Jenin refugee camp.

What Will the Future of Kenya Look Like? Nanjala Nyabola on 2022 Disputed Election, Drought & More

Kenya is facing a political crisis following last week’s presidential election, with the apparent runner-up rejecting the results of the vote and the apparent president-elect announcing plans to form a new government. We speak with Nairobi-based writer and political analyst Nanjala Nyabola, who says the Kenyan elections yield “terrible candidates,” with the most recent election results following a decades-long tradition of election interference and miscommunication.

NBA announces it won’t schedule games on Election Day: But is it just an empty gesture?

The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced on Aug. 16 that it wouldn’t be scheduling games on Election Day for the upcoming 2022/23 season. Instead, all 30 of its teams will play the day before (Nov. 7) as part of a “Civic Engagement Night” to raise awareness for the election. This announcement, which Shaquille Brewster of NBC News first reported, is part of the NBA’s ongoing efforts to increase civic participation within its fanbase.

Rudy says Trump didn’t actually steal top secret docs, he was simply ‘preserving’ them

So if you or I had worked for the government and, upon leaving, squirreled away a few top secret nuclear documents in a Six Million Dollar Man lunchbox that we kept under a basement foosball table, we’d be sitting in brightly lit rooms asking if we could please get some unscented udder cream for our serially brutalized nipples. It’s unlikely we’d be able to trot out numerous contradictory excuses for our crimes and have roughly a third of the nation believe them.

Ukraine update: Russian ambassador calls for genocide as U.S. buys grain to stave off food crisis

Ukraine’s position as one of the largest providers of exported grain has generated fears from the outset that Vladimir Putin’s illegal and unprovoked invasion would lead to food shortages in countries around the world. Those fears haven’t been helped by scenes of fields in the east of Ukraine pitted by thousands of artillery strikes, or news of farmers in the north dying after striking mines left behind by withdrawing Russian forces.