J&J’s booster shown effective against Covid hospitalization
The results mark the first evidence of the effectiveness of such a vaccine boost while Omicron is circulating.
Today's Liberal News
A Neuroscientist Prepares for Death
When a routine echocardiogram revealed a large mass next to my heart, the radiologist thought it might be a hiatal hernia—a portion of my stomach poking up through my diaphragm to press against the sac containing my heart.“Chug this can of Diet Dr. Pepper and then hop up on the table for another echocardiogram before the soda bubbles in your stomach all pop.”So I did.
Give Your Money. Give Your Time. Don’t Tell Anyone.
“How to Build a Life” is a weekly column by Arthur Brooks, tackling questions of meaning and happiness. Click here to listen to his new podcast series on all things happiness, How to Build a Happy Life.The end of the year isn’t just the holiday season; it’s also charity season. Estimates of charitable giving indicate that at least 20 percent of all gifts are made in December, when our holiday love for humankind conveniently converges with the end of the tax year.
When A Prison Sentence Of 10 Years And 6 Months Turns Into Forever
Life sentences in Louisiana used to come with the opportunity of early release for good behavior. When the rules changed, these people were left behind in Angola and forgotten for decades.
7 Of The Top HuffPost Politics Stories Of 2021
From Lara Trump to Josh Hawley, here are some of our most-read stories of the year.
U.S. sets new daily high for Covid cases
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s tally represents a grim new milestone in the coronavirus pandemic.
FDA: Antigen tests may have reduced sensitivity detecting Omicron
The new warning is based on preliminary studies by the National Institutes of Health’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics initiative.
CDC sharply drops estimate of Omicron prevalence in U.S.
The agency said the disparity was due to the rate with which the highly transmissible Omicron spread.
Fauci: ‘I don’t think people should expect’ a domestic flight vaccine mandate
“It’s on the table,” he added. “But that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. I doubt if we’re going to see something like that in the reasonably foreseeable future.
Despite supply issues and Omicron, holiday sales rise 8.5%
The results, which covered Nov. 1 through Dec. 24, were fueled by purchases of clothing and jewelry.
Health spending growth more than doubled in first year of pandemic
Nearly the entire increase came from the burst of federal spending as the government mobilized to contain the spread of the virus.
Fed clears path for multiple rate hikes during election year as prices surge
The Fed plans to cease its bond buys entirely by March, rather than its earlier target of June to give itself room to begin raising interest rates as early as the second quarter of next year.
Inflation accelerates at lightning pace in new setback for Biden
Costs for key goods and services soared 0.8 percent for the month and 6.8 percent for the year, the highest since 1982, the Labor Department reported Friday.
Opinion | How the Return to Office Work Is Impoverishing the Middle Class
The middle class is facing serious economic hardship with little of the workplace flexibility now afforded to the well-off. Here’s how employers — and government — can help.
“His Spirit Reflected a Giant”: Mumia Abu-Jamal Remembers Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s Visit on Death Row
Mumia Abu-Jamal remembers South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who died on Sunday at the age of 90. Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for fighting to end apartheid in South Africa. In 2007, Tutu visited Mumia when he was still on death row. “His spirit reflected a giant,” says Abu-Jamal. “He struggled for change with his prophetic voice, his sweet humor, his deep love and his boundless sense of compassion.
Angela Davis on Imagining New Worlds, the Campaign to Free Mumia and the Biden Presidency
World-renowned author, activist and professor Angela Davis talks about navigating the pandemic and an inadequate two-party political system during a time of racial uprising in the United States. She also talks about imprisoned journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal, the Biden presidential campaign and the protests that erupted from the police killing of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
News Roundup: U.S. hits new pandemic record; master Senate tactician Harry Reid dead at 82
In the news today: Former Sen. Harry Reid, a giant of progressive politics, died last night at age 82. The nation’s COVID-19 pandemic has now reached yet another all-time high, with a 7-day average now topping a quarter-million new cases per day. And the mass shooter responsible for five deaths in Denver has been identified as a white supremacist who repeatedly advocated for political violence on social media—and wrote a “book” that reveled in such violence.
Anti-vaxxers take over a Burger King, and yes, it’s even more ridiculous than it sounds
What could be possibly more American than a group of cranky a-holes fighting for their God-given right to spread deadly diseases at fast-food restaurants? That’s peak 2021, folks; MAGA mites always save the best for last.
As much as I’d like to dump most Burger King food into Boston Harbor (still a far better choice, I’d argue, than eating it), I don’t think this protest will have the historic impact these anti-vaxxers hope it will.
Inside the secretive world of union busting: Labor-focused academics targeted for their research
Pressure from corporate donors, public relations firms, and anti-union consultants has chilled research by labor studies academics.
By Jo Constantz, for Capital & Main
Throttled by both strong-arm tactics from anti-union interests and a chronic lack of support from universities, the field of labor studies has dwindled in the U.S. in recent years.
Ghislaine Maxwell could spend decades in prison after guilty verdict reached in sex-trafficking case
Ghislaine Maxwell, the wealthy socialite believed to be Jeffrey Epstein’s right-hand woman, was found guilty on Wednesday of five out of six counts at a federal court in New York. The jury reached its verdict after six days of deliberations that spanned around 40 hours.
We should thank Donald Trump Jr. for showing us the truth about white evangelical Christianity
As the year-end holidays slowly tick towards their inevitable conclusion; as families gather (however possible) to enjoy the warmth of the many shared experiences and trials of the past year; and as we eagerly await yet again the inexorable descent of that familiar iridescent ball in Times Square at the stroke of midnight on Jan. 1, it’s a special time.
Boehner, McConnell Share Words Of Reverence For Late Harry Reid
The former Senate Majority Leader died on Tuesday after a years-long battle with pancreatic cancer.
How Harry Reid Became An Unlikely Progressive Champion
Despite a centrist background, the late Senate Democratic leader’s penchant for partisan combat endeared him to the left.
Biden, Putin To Hold Call Over Stepped Up Security Demands
President Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin will speak Thursday as the Russian leader has stepped up his demands for security guarantees in Eastern Europe.
Jury In Ghislaine Maxwell Trial Must Work New Year’s If No Verdict
This is the latest sign that a verdict in the monthlong sex trafficking trial may not be near.
‘This was the moment’: CDC defends altered guidance amid Omicron surge
Director Rochelle Walensky acknowledged that the decision to shorten the recommended isolation period “really had a lot to do with what we thought people would be able to tolerate.
Russia’s Aggression Against Ukraine Is Backfiring
Western intelligence agencies have warned that Russia is contemplating an invasion of Ukraine, perhaps involving some 175,000 troops. Vladimir Putin’s government has already moved more than 100,000 troops along Ukraine’s borders, including into Belarus. Russian officials have been making outrageously paranoid and false accusations. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, for example, recently blamed NATO for the return of the “nightmare scenario of military confrontation.
Arundhati Roy on the Media, Vaccine Inequity, Authoritarianism in India & Challenging U.S. Wars
We go to New Delhi, India, to speak with acclaimed Indian author and activist Arundhati Roy about the pandemic, U.S. militarism and the state of journalism. Roy first appeared on Democracy Now! after receiving widespread backlash for speaking out against the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. At the time, her emphatic antiwar stance clashed with the rising tides of patriotism and calls for war after 9/11. “Now the same media is saying what we were saying 20 years ago,” says Roy.
Poet Martín Espada on “Floaters,” the Dehumanization of Refugees, Puerto Rico & His Father
Acclaimed poet Martín Espada recently won the National Book Award for Poetry for his anthology “Floaters.” He became just the third Latinx poet to win the award. “Floaters” is titled after the photo of the Salvadoran father and daughter who drowned in the Rio Grande in June 2019 trying to cross into the United States, one that sparked outrage at the humanitarian crisis at the U.S. southern border. Espada discusses U.S.
Our Relationship With COVID Vaccines Is Just Getting Started
Walter Barker has, since the fall of 2020, had five doses of COVID-19 vaccine. He’s already starting to ponder when he might need a sixth.Barker, a 38-year-old office worker in New York, received his first two doses a year ago, as part of an AstraZeneca vaccine trial. But the shots, which haven’t been authorized by the FDA, couldn’t get him into some venues. Sick of having to test every time he went to a Yankees game, Barker nabbed a pair of Moderna injections in the spring.