Today's Liberal News

Calamity Again

Dear God, calamity again!
It was so peaceful, so serene;
We had just begun to break the chains
That bind our folk in slavery
When halt! Once again the people’s blood
Is streaming …
The poem is called “Calamity Again.” The original version was written in Ukrainian, in 1859, and the author, Taras Shevchenko, was not speaking metaphorically when he wrote about slavery.

‘Can Russia Actually Control the Entire Landmass of Ukraine?’

Few Americans know more about occupying a country and then facing a determined armed resistance than David Petraeus. The former four-star general and ex-director of the CIA wrote his Ph.D. thesis about the Vietnam War; helped oversee the writing of the U.S. Army’s counterinsurgency field manual; was its commanding officer in Iraq during the surge of troops there; and then ran U.S.

The Unforgettable Mark Lanegan

Of the great male voices to come out of the grunge era—Kurt Cobain’s, Layne Staley’s, Chris Cornell’s—the greatest was Mark Lanegan’s. It was simultaneously the fullest and the most evacuated by sorrow, the warmest and the closest to the grave, the strongest and the most self-immolating, the purest and the most polluted, the largest-hearted and the loneliest.

Did Canada Overreact to the Trucker Protests?

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. Every Friday, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here.Inflation is high. So are gas prices. War in Ukraine could exacerbate both.

I Can’t Stop Watching a Livestream of Kyiv

It’s February 15, 11 p.m. my time and just past 6 a.m. the next day Kyiv time, still dark. The Reuters livestream camera is pointed at Independence Square. Maidan. Light from the city reflects in the predawn sky, which turns purple, then red, then pink, then gray. This may be the day Russia moves deeper into Ukraine, American intelligence reportedly says. In the bottom-right corner of my screen, I notice that the building that burned during the 2014 Revolution of Dignity has been rebuilt.

“Pick Up the Pen, Joe”: Biden Faces Pressure to Cancel Student Debt to Fulfill Campaign Promise

The Debt Collective is planning an action on April 4 at the Department of Education to urge the Biden administration to fulfill a campaign promise to cancel student debt before federal student loan payments restart in May. Debt cancellation would give relief to some 45 million borrowers who owe nearly $1.8 trillion in student debt. Education should be treated as a human right and not as a commodity, says Astra Taylor, co-director of the Debt Collective.

On Anniv. of Ahmaud Arbery’s Murder, Family Welcomes Historic Hate Crime Guilty Verdict for Killers

We go to Georgia, where a jury has found the three white men who hunted and fatally shot unarmed Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery guilty of committing federal hate crimes, acknowledging the racial animus behind the killing. It marks the first time in Georgia’s history that there has been a conviction for a federal hate crime. Today is the anniversary of Arbery’s murder, now marked as Ahmaud Arbery Day in Georgia.

Nuclear War Risk Rises as Tension Mounts Between Nuclear Superpowers over Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to order troops into the separatist-controlled areas of Ukraine has triggered a new wave of sanctions against Russia, amid fears the situation could spiral into an all-out war. We speak with Dr. Ira Helfand, former president of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, who warns a war could lead to the use of nuclear weapons that would annihilate millions and cause total collapse of world ecosystems.

“Who Killed Our Father?”: 57 Years After Malcolm X Assassination, Family Wants Fed Probe into Cover-Up

On the anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X, we speak with the civil rights leader’s daughter Ilyasah Shabazz about her family’s call for a federal probe into his murder, following the exoneration of two men who were wrongfully convicted. “We want to know who killed our father, and we want to make sure that it is properly recorded in history,” says Shabazz.

Ben Crump on Fighting for Justice for Daunte Wright, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin & Z’Kye Husain

Former Minneapolis police officer Kim Potter was sentenced to two years in prison on Friday for fatally shooting Black driver Daunte Wright after mistaking her gun for a Taser. We speak to Benjamin Crump, attorney for the Wright family, about Judge Regina Chu’s sympathy expressed for Potter during closing statements and how white criminals tend to receive lighter sentences. “Police officers, when it comes to Black people, they always do the most,” says Crump.

Paul Farmer Invented a New Way of Caring for One Another

Several years ago, Paul Farmer and I both spoke at a conference at Harvard on the history and future of global health. As our program finished, Paul was immediately inundated with a throng of students eager to speak with the guru of the field, the man who inspired us all and asked more of each of us. I shuffled off to speak with the few avoiding the crowd.After Paul finished with the students, he came over to give me a hug, and we made small talk.