Europe’s Covid spike has Biden officials concerned, could lead to return of masks
Over the past two years, the U.S. has experienced Covid waves similar to those in Europe — only several weeks later.
Today's Liberal News
Why We Should Read Hannah Arendt Now
This article has been adapted from the introduction to The Folio Society’s new edition of Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism.So much of what we imagine to be new is old; so many of the seemingly novel illnesses that afflict modern society are really just resurgent cancers, diagnosed and described long ago. Autocrats have risen before; they have used mass violence before; they have broken the laws of war before.
Only NATO Can Save Putin
Sign up for Tom’s newsletter, Peacefield, here.Russian President Vladimir Putin is in trouble. Despite his limited gains on the ground in Ukraine, he is facing strategic defeat in a war that no one (including me) would have expected him to lose. The vaunted Russian army has turned out to be a hollow force whose major skill sets seem to be bullying its own conscripts and killing foreign civilians.
Biden picks Ashish Jha as new Covid-19 czar
Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, will lead the White House’s Covid-19 response.
U.S. Accuses Russia of Using Cluster Bombs in Ukraine as Both Refuse to Endorse International Ban
President Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal for the first time Wednesday for atrocities in Ukraine, as the House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing on whether Russian forces have been using cluster munitions in populated areas in Ukraine. Cluster bombs explode in midair and spew hundreds of smaller “bomblets.” The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said their use in Ukraine may amount to war crimes.
Syrian Activist Condemns Russia for Targeting Civilians & Hospitals from Aleppo to Mariupol
As the war in Ukraine enters its fourth week, Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have increasingly attacked civilian areas to pound Ukrainian cities into submission, a strategy Russia has employed to devastating effect in Syria, where the Russian Air Force has bombed many cities to rubble in an effort to support the government of Bashar al-Assad since entering the war in 2015.
Phyllis Bennis: The Best Way to Help Ukraine Is Diplomacy, Not War & Increased Militarization
President Biden announced $800 million in new military aid for Ukraine on Wednesday, just days after Congress cleared a $1.5 trillion spending bill that included nearly $14 billion for Ukrainian humanitarian aid and security assistance. Experts warn that sending more lethal weapons could escalate war and result in more losses for Ukraine.
U.S. pushes for more global sharing of health tech in next pandemic
Easier access to vaccines at center of Biden administration’s WHO effort ahead of future public health emergencies, document reveals.
Pfizer seeks emergency authorization for 2nd Covid booster for 65-plus
The request for a second booster shot is based on two real-world data sets suggesting another vaccine dose boosts protection against the Omicron variant while maintaining its safety profile.
‘We need this money’: Covid funding stalls as Congress, White House point fingers
There appears to be no clear strategy from either the White House or Capitol Hill to secure the funds.
CDC wants to monitor poop: States aren’t all on board
Wastewater surveillance gained popularity during the pandemic as state and local health officials demonstrated how they could detect the coronavirus in their community’s sewage systems before residents developed symptoms.
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.
Biden takes victory lap with January jobs report
“America’s job machine is going stronger than ever,” Biden said at the White House.
U.S. employers shrug off Omicron, add 467,000 jobs in January
The burst of jobs came despite a wave of Omicron inflections that sickened millions of workers, kept many consumers at home and left businesses from restaurants to manufacturers short-staffed.
Opinion | Why Are Minority-Owned Banks Disappearing? Washington Holds the Smoking Gun
Congress needs to create a new safety net for such lenders — not let regulators squeeze them out of business.
“Shocking Act of Bloodletting”: Saudi Arabia Executes 81 as West Asks Kingdom to Increase Oil Output
The U.S. is refusing to directly condemn Saudi Arabia after the kingdom announced on Saturday it executed 81 people, including seven Yemeni men and one Syrian man. Rights groups say many of those executed were people arrested for participating in human rights demonstrations and that many of the defendants were denied access to a lawyer, held incommunicado and tortured. This comes as the U.S.
Irish PM Tests Positive For COVID While Attending Event With Biden, Pelosi
Taoiseach Micheál Martin was at the Ireland Funds 30th National Gala at the National Building Museum in Washington when he learned of his diagnosis.
Ukraine update: Zelenskyy addresses Congress; Putin vows purge of disloyal Russians
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a virtual address to the United States Congress today, a key portion of which was video footage of the devastation caused by Russian attacks—and the many, many civilians now injured or dead. Zelenskyy again asked the United States to intervene directly in the war with the imposition of a military “no-fly” zone.
Rep. Elise Stefanik wants to fight for kids’ ‘right to choose’ chocolate milk at school. No, really
New York Rep. Elise Stefanik—the third-ranking Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives—has at last captured the national zeitgeist! Americans aren’t worried about Ukraine, the economy, creeping fascism here and abroad, COVID-19, or any of the other stories the lamestream media keep pushing. The brutal truth is that most people are concerned about the continued availability of calorie-dense refined sugar in schools!
Seriously.
Call For Koscar Nominations #2: Outstanding Call to Activism
Daily Kos was born on May 26, 2002. That makes 2022 our 20th anniversary year, and just one of the ways we’re celebrating is by bringing back the Koscars! One of the things that makes Daily Kos special is our open platform, where community members can publish stories alongside staff. The Koscars seek to acknowledge and honor outstanding writing contributions from everyone. The entire Daily Kos membership is “the Academy,” so your votes decide the winners.
Idaho Lt. Gov. Ends Interview After Being Pressed About White Nationalist Ties
Janice McGeachin spoke at a conference organized by prominent white nationalist Nick Fuentes, whom she claims she doesn’t know.
Oklahoma professor of 40 years says he was fired after bringing in openly gay guest speaker
Michael O’Keefe, a professor who taught graphic design for more than 40 years, says he was fired for bringing an openly gay speaker to his college class, according to local outlet KRQE. According to a statement from O’Keefe’s lawyer, Kevin Jacobs, the school claimed he was fired for “gross misconduct” contrary to the mission and values of the school.
Missouri radio station continues to air literal Russian war propaganda
Before Vladimir Putin decided it was a swell idea to take his mass murdering to the next level, you almost had to squint to see the traitorous stains who walked among us. But the “savvy genius” who got hopelessly bogged down in Ukraine in less time than it takes Donald Trump to get his head stuck in a jumbo jar of Nutella shined a black light on some of our seedier nooks and crannies and—lo and behold!—looks like treason was the reason for the appeasin’.
Former GOP Senate Candidate Has Possibly The Worst Take On Zelenskyy’s Speech To Congress
Economist Peter Schiff was criticized for tweeting, “I understand times are hard, but doesn’t the President of the #Ukraine own a suit?
Kentucky Senate Passes 15-Week Abortion Ban
The bill, which is modeled after a Mississippi law before the U.S. Supreme Court, passed 31-6.
Mehmet Oz Says He’ll Give Up Dual Citizenship If Elected To Senate
There had been some confusion about whether Dr. Oz, the TV personality who’s running as a Pennsylvania Republican, would relinquish his Turkish citizenship.
White House warns free Covid treatments are at risk as subsidies run out
Some Americans might have to pay out of pocket for therapeutics if Congress doesn’t pass a new Covid funding bill.
Criticizing Ukraine Is Free Speech, Too
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.Question of the WeekWhat is a valuable insight, lesson, or perspective you have learned from someone who doesn’t share your politics?Email your thoughts to conor@theatlantic.com.
A Film That Finally Captures Murakami’s Writing
Drive My Car is a special movie. It’s a film about language, but its silences carry the most powerful moments of communication. It’s a three-hour drama about grief, but the experience of watching it is breezily loose and oddly comforting. And it’s one of very few adaptations of the renowned Japanese writer Haruki Murakami’s work, although the moments that best capture his style were invented by the director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi.