Barack Obama Said He Underestimated Threat Of Disinformation While In Office
The former president said he had seen firsthand the “degree to which information, disinformation, misinformation was being weaponized.
Today's Liberal News
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Says She Reported Jimmy Kimmel Joke To Capitol Police
The congresswoman who once supported executing Democrats said she had reported the comedian’s Will Smith slap joke as a “threat of violence.
Ukraine update: Russian moves reek of desperation as battered troops head east
The atrocities committed by Russian troops in Bucha have resulted in world fury. They may not, however, be an outlier.
Fox News Host Confronts Tom Cotton Over Nazi Remark About Ketanji Brown Jackson
The Arkansas senator’s insinuation about the Supreme Court nominee was apparently “a bridge too far,” even on Fox News.
Border Patrol’s use of encrypted app that can automatically delete messages is a very bad idea
The former Border Patrol agent who in August 2019 pleaded guilty after intentionally hitting a Guatemalan man with his truck and then lying about it to investigators used text messages to call migrants “disgusting subhuman shit unworthy of being kindling for a fire” and “mindless murdering savages.
Elderly Sikh man visiting from India becomes victim of hate crime in unprovoked NYC attack
As hate crimes against the country continue to increase, people of East Asian descent are not the only victims. Asians across the country are being attacked without provocation. Most recently, a 70-year-old Sikh man visiting from India was brutally attacked in an incident being investigated as a possible hate crime, officials with the New York City Department and a Sikh-American advocacy group said.
We’re All Being Manipulated the Same Way
Editor’s Note: This piece was adapted from Ressa’s remarks at Disinformation and the Erosion of Democracy, a conference hosted by The Atlantic and the University of Chicago, on April 6, 2022. In the Philippines, we’re 33 days before our presidential elections. Filipinos are going to the poll and we are choosing 18,000 posts, including the president and vice president.
Gov. Greg Abbott Says Texas Will Bus Undocumented Immigrants To D.C.
The governor’s dubious plan follows the Biden administration lifting a public health policy that limited asylum-seekers from entering the U.S.
DeSantis delayed records request involving Florida official tied to Gaetz sex-trafficking probe
For a law-and-order party, Republicans don’t seem all that interested in actual laws. At least not the ones that apply to them. They may believe the world is safer from loose cigarettes and indiscriminate hoodie-wearing, but open government corruption? Meh.
For example, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appears to be modeling his administration after the serial lawlessness of the Trump cabal, whose lodestar has always been Vladimir Putin.
‘My life matters too’: Black migrants note disparate treatment under U.S. immigration policy
Reports last winter revealed that while the Biden administration was internally warned that Haitian deportations under Stephen Miller’s anti-asylum policy could violate human rights and international refugee law, they continued into the thousands. But just a few months later, the administration would then also issue a memo reminding U.S. border officers that they have the discretion to exempt Ukrainians from the policy.
3 takeaways ahead of potential fall Covid booster campaign
Panel members agreed that myriad unknowns persist about the coronavirus and how it might evolve.
That’s Not What Grooming Means
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.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Is Confident, Dorky Fun
When Sonic the Hedgehog made his theater debut two years ago, after decades as a famed video-game mascot, the cinematic equivalent of a ball and chain was placed around his speedy little legs. He still looked every inch the big-eyed blue speedster from Sega’s many games, but the movie made him spend all of his time palling around with a local cop in small-town Montana instead of battling alien robots in phantasmagoric, loop-de-loop-filled locations like the Casino Night Zone.
The Uncanny Prescience of Servant of the People
A charming, baby-faced man, somewhere in his late 30s or early 40s, rises to a governmental lectern flanked by blue-and-yellow flags. He is not a career politician. World leaders think of him as something of a joke. He looks at the gathered crowd, draws a breath, and, in Ukrainian, begins his inaugural speech.
The speaker is not Volodymyr Zelensky.
America’s Pandemic Orphans Are Slipping Through the Cracks
Losing a parent may be one of the most destabilizing events of the human experience. Orphans are at increased risk of substance abuse, dropping out of school, and poverty. They are almost twice as likely as non-orphans to die by suicide, and they remain more susceptible to almost every major cause of death for the rest of their life.Because of the pandemic, some 200,000 American children now face these stark odds.
Back from Kabul, Women’s Delegation Urges U.S. & Europe to Unfreeze Afghan Funds Amid Humanitarian Crisis
Women in Afghanistan are protesting a number of gender-based restrictions from the Taliban, including an order in March to shut down public high schools for girls. In response, U.S. officials canceled talks with Taliban leaders in Doha, continuing to freeze billions in Afghan assets while Afghanistan spirals into economic catastrophe. We speak with Masuda Sultan and Medea Benjamin, two co-founders of Unfreeze Afghanistan, a coalition advocating for the release of funding for Afghan civilians.
Washington Post Video Journalist Captures Ukrainian Stories as Russian Forces Leave Parts of Ukraine
As the Russian assault on Ukraine continues, more videos are emerging that show evidence of Russian brutalities and possible war crimes, such as executions and torture. Russian officials have denied the accusations, calling them Ukrainian propaganda. We speak with Washington Post video journalist Jon Gerberg, who has been filing video reports from the war for the past six weeks, and see extended interviews from civilians he interviewed.
Biden admin plots fix to Obamacare’s ‘family glitch,’ expand coverage
The move would target loophole that keeps about 5 million people from qualifying for subsidized health plans
States are ready to live with Covid. Congress’ funding fight is making that hard.
Health officials from Alabama to Washington state say that congressional gridlock over providing billions in new money has undermined efforts to transition to a steady, long-term approach to Covid-19.
Biden administration to end controversial border policy in May
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which invoked the controversial order in March 2020 to limit the spread of Covid-19, said the policy is no longer needed to protect public health.
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.
Opinion | When It Comes to Inflation, Our Focus Should Be On the Cost of Housing
The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates — but Congress has a chance to bring real relief.
U.S. inflation soared 7.9 percent in past year, a fresh 40-year high
The increase reported by the Labor Department reflected the 12 months ending in February and didn’t include most of the oil and gas price increases that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb.
Russia oil shock looms over Fed inflation fight
The Fed is already expected to begin a campaign of interest rate increases next month in a bid to remove its support for economic growth amid a blistering job market and rapidly rising prices.
Mass Graves in Kyiv Suburb of Bucha; Amnesty Int’l Documents Unlawful Killing of Civilians in Ukraine
Ukrainian officials are accusing Russia of committing war crimes for killing civilians. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and EU leaders condemned images of dead civilians in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, where corpses were found littering the streets after Russian troops withdrew from the area, some with their hands bound behind their backs.
Jan. 6 Committee Obtains 101 Emails From Former Trump Lawyer
A judge said John Eastman appeared to be part of a “campaign to overturn a democratic election, an action unprecedented in American history.
U.S., Allies Plan To Ban All New Investments In Russia
The additional sanctions were taken against Russia after the emergence of troubling new evidence of war crimes in Ukraine.
Ukraine update: Russia attempts to move forces east after their Kyiv operations collapse
As both Russia and Ukraine race to redeploy troops toward eastern and southern Ukraine, where a battered Russia still hopes to gain new territory that it can then proclaim to have been part of Russia all along, much of what happens next is contingent on the Russian military being able to either recommit those forces or muster suitable replacements.
Ukraine update: Meanwhile, in Kherson …
Since Russia collected what was left of their forces in northern Ukraine and made a run for the Belarus border, almost all of the attention has focused on the Donbas region. Which isn’t surprising, since Russia already announced that it was going to redirect its attention there.
The absolutely best outcome for Russia at this point would seem to be capturing more territory in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, and completing the capture of Mariupol.