Today's Liberal News

Musk bans journalists, lies about the reason, and storms off in snit during Thursday Night Ass-acre

UPDATE: Friday, Dec 16, 2022 · 8:08:34 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

It’s not over.

Overnight, at least nine journalists were banned from Twitter in a vivid demonstration that new owner Elon Musk views the idea of consistent, fair rules for everyone with nothing but contempt. Some of the journalists involved had been reporting on the earlier suspension of the ElonJet account, which posted already public information about the flight plans of his personal jet.

Qatar Won

This is an edition of The Great Game, a newsletter about the 2022 World Cup—and how soccer explains the world. Sign up here.“The thing with the royal family is that for most of the time, it’s just a slightly tawdry soap opera,” a friend of mine reflected when we met up in the days after the funeral of Queen Elizabeth earlier this year. “But then, occasionally, it rises to become pure opera.

The Joy of Morocco

This is an edition of The Great Game, a newsletter about the 2022 World Cup—and how soccer explains the world. Sign up here.There is a video from the World Cup that I can’t stop watching.It’s not of Christian Pulisic’s self-sacrificial goal against Iran that sent the United States into the round of 16, or Lionel Messi dancing past a Croatian defender before providing the assist that sealed Argentina’s place in the final.

The Childish Drama of Elon Musk

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.Updated at 9:00 p.m. ET on December 16, 2022For the past few days, Elon Musk has been throwing a gigantic temper tantrum on his platform, Twitter.

No One Wins in Elon Musk’s Battle With Journalists

Last night, several well-known journalists, including Ryan Mac of The New York Times and Drew Harwell of The Washington Post, were suspended from Twitter.The suspensions were ostensibly related to the journalists’ reporting on an account—@ElonJet, operated by the 20-year-old Jack Sweeney—which was dedicated to publishing the location of Elon Musk’s private jet based on public data.

What a Famous Writer’s Early Work Can Teach Us About Failure

Reading the early works of established, revered writers always reminds me of looking at a baby’s face: how it seems impossible to know the ways that visage will sharpen and emerge, how mushy it is, sometimes indistinguishable from others—but also, when looking back at photos once the baby is grown, how difficult it is to imagine that face turning into anything other than what it has become.

Biden, Like Trump Before Him, Derails Effort to End U.S. Support for Saudi War in Yemen

A new UNICEF report finds that over 11,000 children have been killed or injured in the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led war in Yemen since 2015. A six-month ceasefire between warring parties expired in October. Meanwhile, Senator Bernie Sanders withdrew a Senate resolution Tuesday that would have ended U.S. support for the war, following pressure from the White House. Sanders said he would bring the resolution back if they could not reach an agreement.

Slash the Pentagon Budget in Half & Abolish ICBMs: Dan Ellsberg on How to Avoid Nuclear Armageddon

As tension rises between the United States and Russia over Ukraine, we speak with Daniel Ellsberg, the famed Pentagon Papers whistleblower, who worked for years during the Cold War on nuclear war strategy within the U.S. national security establishment. He says the threat of a catastrophic nuclear war is intolerable, with intercontinental ballistic missiles posing the highest risk.

Thursday Night Massacre: Elon Musk indulges in a personal purge of journalists from Twitter

UPDATE: Friday, Dec 16, 2022 · 3:47:56 AM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

So far, nothing from @bariweiss or @mtaibbi on the banning of journalists from Twitter.— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) December 16, 2022

UPDATE: Friday, Dec 16, 2022 · 3:33:44 AM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Musk is now claiming that the journalists involved “posted my exact real-time location, basically assassination coordinates.

Ukraine update: ‘A tsar tells them to go to war, and they go … Russian mobilization has worked’

UPDATE: Thursday, Dec 15, 2022 · 11:33:32 PM +00:00

·
Mark Sumner

For anyone who was actually concerned about those forces from Belarus that were all over the media two days ago…

🔙 The 38th Airborne Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Belarus, which was transferred to the Ukrainian border as part of a sudden check of combat readiness, is already returning to Brest— Ukrainska Pravda in Engl

What Fusion May Mean for a Carbon-Free Future

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.Does the U.S. really want clean energy? A step forward in fusion technology raises questions about what it will take to have a carbon-free future.But first, here are three new stories from The Atlantic.
The Twitter Files are a missed opportunity.