Today's Liberal News

To Protect Pedestrians, Stop Yelling at Drivers

Speaking with a reporter in 1977, William Haddon, the first administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, presented an unorthodox solution to the country’s vehicular-death problem: Don’t preach to drivers. At the time, not unlike today, public service announcements and police patrols blamed road fatalities on drivers’ mistakes.“I think that’s too high a penalty for being human,” Haddon told the reporter.

Ethiopia: Amnesty Accuses Tigrayan Forces of Rape & Murder in Latest Probe of War Crimes in Conflict

Amnesty International is accusing Tigrayan forces of deliberately killing dozens of unarmed civilians and gang-raping dozens of women and girls in the northern Amhara region of Ethiopia. This comes as the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan rebel forces remain at war, and just last year Amnesty similarly accused the Ethiopian government of subjecting Tigrayan women and girls to rape, gang rape, sexual slavery, sexual mutilation and other forms of torture.

The Worst Parts of Love and Romance in 2022

This is an edition of Up for Debate, a newsletter by Conor Friedersdorf. On Wednesdays, he rounds up timely, intriguing conversations and solicits reader responses to one question of the moment. Every Friday, he publishes some of your most thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here.Earlier this week I asked, “What’s the best or worst thing about love, marriage, sex, or romance as conceived in 2022?” Online dating loomed large in several responses.

The Meaning of San Francisco’s School-Board Recall

By large margins, San Francisco voters on Tuesday recalled three members of the city’s school board, including board president Gabriela López (with about 74 percent supporting recall), Alison Collins (78 percent), and Faauuga Moliga (71 percent). The recall effort was directed at the entire board: These three were targeted because they were the only members who had served long enough to be eligible for recall.

The New Texas Chainsaw Massacre Is All Blood, No Bite

The premise of the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre is, even by the short yardstick of the horror genre, quite simple. Some youths traveling through rural Texas come across a ramshackle house where a family of cannibals live. Leatherface, a brutish, childlike member of the clan wearing a mask made of human skin, attacks them with a chainsaw (among other weapons). That’s pretty much it.

Omicron Revived a Heartbreaking Pandemic Measure in NICUs

Ryan McAdams, a neonatologist in Madison, Wisconsin, had a complex case to handle: A tiny newborn with a heart defect needed surgery. The baby had been struggling to feed, so doctors planned to insert a gastronomy tube directly into the stomach to assist in supplementary feeding. The baby’s mother was around all the time to care for the infant, until she tested positive for COVID-19 and wasn’t allowed to be in the hospital.

The Challenges of an Electric-Vehicle Revolution

Judging by the ads during last weekend’s Super Bowl, electric vehicles are poised to imminently dislodge gasoline-powered cars and trucks from their privileged place on America’s roadways.An escalating dispute among President Joe Biden’s administration, congressional Democrats, and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy over modernizing the Postal Service’s vehicle fleet shows why the transition may not come quite that quickly.

Wave of Bomb Threats Terrorizing Historically Black Colleges Continues During Black History Month

The House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security heard testimony Thursday about a wave of bomb threats against historically Black colleges and universities, including more than a dozen this month alone. February is Black History Month. More than 60 educational groups called on Congress this week to take immediate steps to support and protect HBCUs.

A Call for Peace: Russian & U.S. Women Push for Diplomacy, Not Military Action, to Resolve Crisis

U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov have agreed to meet next week as tension remains high over Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia has announced plans to stage massive drills on Saturday of its nuclear forces, including multiple practice missile launches. We speak with Russian journalist Nadezhda Azhgikhina, one of a group of two dozen independent Russian and American women who released an open letter this week calling for peace.