Fauci: No particular reason to fear for Biden’s health
“The protocols to protect the president are pretty strong,” he said.
Today's Liberal News
Republicans see CDC’s policy change as ‘massive political loser for Democrats’
The GOP is openly discussing tying Biden administration’s scrapping of Title 42, a Trump-era pandemic border policy, to a range of other voter concerns.
U.S. inflation jumped 8.5 percent in past year, highest since 1981
Prices have been driven up by bottlenecked supply chains, robust consumer demand and disruptions to global food and energy markets worsened by Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Psaki: Student loan borrowers likely to have to pay debt ‘sometime’
The Biden administration recently extended a Covid-related pause on repayments.
Biden’s mounting midterm threat: Inflation angst outweighing historic job growth
White House officials deny any sense of panic over the economy or their midterm chances.
Democrats want to crack down on Wall Street. Guess who’s getting in the way.
The administration’s difficulties in getting bank cop nominees through a Democratic-controlled Senate underscore the fault lines within the party over how to approach financial regulation.
“Pandemic, Inc.”: J. David McSwane on Chasing Capitalists & Thieves Who Got Rich While We Got Sick
In “Pandemic, Inc.: Chasing the Capitalists and Thieves Who Got Rich While We Got Sick,” ProPublica investigative reporter J. David McSwane tracks pandemic federal relief funds and finds many contracts to acquire critical supplies were wrapped up in unprecedented fraud schemes that left the U.S. government with subpar and unusable equipment.
Former Russian Lawmaker Says He’s Fighting Alongside Ukrainian Troops
“When Putin’s forces were advancing, we needed to defend the country,” Russian dissident Ilya Ponomarev said.
Kentucky’s GOP-Led Legislature Overrides Veto To Pass Sweeping Abortion Restrictions
“Only those who can afford to travel across state lines will be able to have agency over their bodies,” Planned Parenthood said.
Ukraine update: Stunning news as Ukraine reportedly sinks Russia’s Black Sea Fleet flagship
(I’m basing this report on early information. The fog of war is thick. So approach everything with appropriate hesitation and skepticism.)
The day’s big war news is … it’s big. Ukraine has sunk the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the guided missile cruiser Moskva—the very ship Ukrainians told to go fuck themselves on the first day of the war.
Vote on naming a federal courthouse shows just how extremist House Republicans have become
Even in the worst of times, Congress can usually get its act together to name federal buildings. It’s kind of a joke about Congress, actually. But House Republicans just got to the point of divisive extremism where they won’t even reliably do that.
Every member of Florida’s congressional delegation had co-sponsored a bill to name a federal courthouse after Justice Joseph W.
Police in Michigan release video footage of Grand Rapids officer fatally shooting Patrick Lyoya
After hundreds gathered to protest the shooting of Patrick Lyoya, police officials from Grand Rapids, Michigan, said they would release footage of the incident. Lyoya was fatally shot on April 4, after his vehicle was stopped by Grand Rapids officers for having an unregistered license plate issue, the Associated Press reported. Lyoya leaves behind two small children, a two-year-old and a three-month-old.
Ukraine update: U.S. sending another $800M package that includes heavy weapons
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden released a statement on his latest conversation with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy. In the call, Biden not only revealed that he was sending an additional $800 million in “weapons, ammunition, and other security assistance” to Ukraine, he provided some exciting details of just what would be heading down the high-speed pipeline between the U.S. and Kyiv.
Marjorie Taylor Greene thinks U.S. soldiers are suckers who are ‘throwing their lives away’
For many of us, “throwing your life away” might look like refusing a safe and effective vaccine that keeps your lungs from turning into turbid sacks of wet cement. But Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has other ideas. To her way of thinking, military service really is for losers and suckers.
In an April 9 interview with once-and-future DJT rectal parasite Lou Dobbs, Greene disparaged our military, concluding that joining the U.S.
Texas Governor Dumps First Busload Of Migrants In DC For Political Stunt
The group arrived at a building near Capitol Hill that is home to Fox News, NBC News and C-SPAN.
What could go wrong with Biden’s booming economy? Here are the big risks.
The Fed’s campaign to raise interest rates — designed to reduce spending and curb inflation — will slow growth, which will have consequences for American workers.
A Supreme Court Ruling Gutting Roe Wouldn’t Just Affect The Red States
Restrictions and bans on abortion are in the books in other states, including Michigan.
Catholic Church Can’t Intervene In Idaho Abortion Lawsuit: State Supreme Court
The court did not explain why the church was excluded after the Diocese of Boise on Monday asked to be allowed to join the lawsuit in support of the ban.
China’s Lockdowns Matter to the West
This is an edition of Up for Debate, a newsletter by Conor Friedersdorf. On Wednesdays, he rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Soon after, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here.Question of the WeekWhat worries you most about the direction of the country? And/or what makes you most optimistic about its future?Email your thoughts to conor@theatlantic.com.
Today Your Phone Became a Police Radio
You couldn’t miss the sound—a piercing, atonal whine—even if your phone had been set to vibrate. Usually this repetitive blare manifests as an Amber Alert, but this morning it accompanied a push notification about an alleged criminal on the loose in New York City. Curiously, the message that flashed across scores of smartphone screens didn’t use the phrase person of interest or suspect. Instead, the jarring alert felt more like something out of a Philip K.
Gilbert Gottfried Was More Than Just a Funny Voice
Gilbert Gottfried, who died yesterday at 67 of complications from muscular dystrophy, was probably best known as the voice of Iago the parrot in Disney’s Aladdin, as the Aflac-commercial duck, or for any number of projects that put his brazen, just-shy-of-whiny voice front and center. As a comedian, he was often characterized as “offensive,” given that a lot of his most high-profile (and, at times, infamous) work involved insulting celebrities on TV.
We’ve Never Seen a Carbon-Removal Plan Like This Before
Updated at 3:45 p.m. on April 13, 2022.The world’s biggest tech companies are getting serious about carbon removal, the still-nascent technology wherein humanity can pull heat-trapping carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Yesterday, an alliance of prominent Silicon Valley companies—including Google, Meta, Shopify, and the payment company Stripe—announced that it is purchasing $925 million in carbon removal over the next eight years.
200 Starbucks & Counting: Barista Jaz Brisack Says Union Busting Can’t Stop Worker Solidarity
We speak with Starbucks Workers United organizer and barista Jaz Brisack on the growing Starbucks union drive that has swept across 30 U.S. states since she helped successfully organize the first U.S. unionized location in Buffalo, New York, last December. Starbucks Workers United has now successfully unionized over a dozen Starbucks shops, and about 200 stores have filed for union elections, covering 5,000 workers in 30 states.
Prices Soar as Corporate Profiteers & Speculators Drive Inflation; It Hurts the Developing World Most
The U.S. Labor Department said Tuesday inflation in the United States rose to 8.5% in March — the highest in four decades. Meanwhile, Oxfam is warning over 260 million people around the world could be pushed into extreme poverty by the end of year due to the pandemic and rising energy and food costs.
NY Gov. Candidate Jumaane Williams on Mass Shooting: More Police Won’t Solve Gun Violence
After a gunman opened fire on a subway train during morning rush hour Tuesday, with 10 people shot and another 13 injured, we speak with New York City public advocate and gubernatorial candidate Jumaane Williams, who says “the answer to the gun violence problem cannot be solely sending police,” adding that New York must respond with a comprehensive plan to beef up social services and programs.
Philadelphia moves to reinstate indoor mask mandate, first major U.S. city to do so
The move to tighten restrictions could be a sign that leaders across the country will reimpose mask mandates if cases continue to rise.
Field mice seek refuge in FDA’s Maryland headquarters
The FDA’s rodent problem worsened during the pandemic, forcing the agency to assign some employees returning to the campus after two years to temporary desks and ask others to continue to telework.
Fauci: No particular reason to fear for Biden’s health
“The protocols to protect the president are pretty strong,” he said.
Republicans see CDC’s policy change as ‘massive political loser for Democrats’
The GOP is openly discussing tying Biden administration’s scrapping of Title 42, a Trump-era pandemic border policy, to a range of other voter concerns.
Psaki: Student loan borrowers likely to have to pay debt ‘sometime’
The Biden administration recently extended a Covid-related pause on repayments.