Today's Liberal News

Ukraine update: Fighting continues in Severodonetsk, and things are definitely not going as expected

A funny thing happened on the way to Russia’s capture of Severodonetsk. After reports from Ukrainian officials that Russia held about 80% of the city, and a full week after Chechen forces claimed to have taken the whole city (which never happened), Ukraine now appears to hold more of Severodonetsk than it did on Wednesday.

Some statements are now going as far as saying that Severodonetsk was a trap to lure in Russian soldiers.

Kooky MAGA tour starring Roger Stone and Mike Flynn inspires fierce pushback in upstate New York

The best way to picture the ReAwaken America Tour is as a sort of flat-Earth conference for political junkies. The second-best way is to get one of those Ronco inside-the-shell egg scramblers, attach it to your skull, adjust the setting to “Don Jr.,” and commence pureeing your brain until Mike Flynn, Roger Stone, and Mike Lindell appear in your mind’s eye, screaming bilious nonsense about the “stolen” 2020 election.

Republicans show they’re the NRA’s servants during House meeting on gun reform

The House Judiciary Committee is meeting Thursday to discuss a package of bills that would stiffen gun laws in the nation after three separate mass shootings in the past 10 days. The Democratic-led panel is trying to get bipartisan agreement, but that, as we know, is highly unlikely.

The Democrats are hoping to push the “Protecting Our Kids Act” in front of the full House as soon as next week, CBS News reports.

The First Amendment Is Stronger Than Johnny Depp

After Johnny Depp’s successful defamation claim against Amber Heard, many observers are wondering if a recalibration of First Amendment law is occurring in the United States.By all indications, it was a close case. The jury spent dozens of hours deliberating, evaluating six weeks’ worth of testimony and evidence. It ultimately decided that the preponderance of evidence favored Depp.

The Lessons of Newtown for the Future of Uvalde

Isla Vista, Charleston, San Bernardino, Orlando, Sutherland Springs, Parkland, Thousand Oaks, Virginia Beach, Buffalo: Over the decade since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, scores of American communities have become inextricably linked to mass death. With the killing of 19 children and two of their teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, last week, the town of 16,000 near the southern border became yet another of our nation’s landmarks of loss.

A Sci-fi Film With a Lighthearted, Apocalyptic Vision

The gray-haired, cloak-wearing protagonist of David Cronenberg’s new science-fiction film, Crimes of the Future, is a very particular sort of conceptual artist. Saul Tenser (played by Viggo Mortensen) sleeps in a bizarre contraption that looks like a spiky womb, speaks with the cadence of someone being strangled, and is constantly growing new organs, which his partner, Caprice (Léa Seydoux), surgically removes from his body for a live audience.

No, Ann Coulter, I Am Not Responsible for the ‘Great Replacement’ Theory

Ann Coulter, in so many words, thinks that I am responsible for the mass shooting in Buffalo in mid-May.Not me alone. After the shooting, Coulter wrote a column dismissing the idea that Republican politicians and commentators had popularized the “Great Replacement” theory, a conspiracy theory that the young, white Buffalo shooter cited as a motivation before killing 10 people at a supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood.

Climate Crisis, Ukraine War Worsen Food Crisis in East Africa; Someone Dies of Hunger Every 48 Secs

In a devastating new report, Oxfam says one person is likely dying from hunger every 48 seconds in drought-ravaged Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. We speak with Shannon Scribner, director of humanitarian work at Oxfam America, about how the hunger crisis has worsened since an earlier report was released 10 years ago. She says climate change and the recent war in Ukraine have worsened already dire conditions in East Africa.

Anatol Lieven on Why the U.S. Must Avoid a “Permanent Crusade Against Russia” over Ukraine

Friday marks the 100th day of the Russian war in Ukraine, and the United States warns the war could continue for many more months. We speak with Anatol Lieven, senior fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. His latest piece for The Atlantic argues that the U.S. is right to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia; however, without a clear strategy for peace and ending the war, the U.S.

Colombia Election Runoff: Leftist Gustavo Petro Leads Presidential Vote But Faces Trump-Like Tycoon

Colombia’s highly anticipated presidential elections on Sunday resulted in victory for two anti-establishment candidates: leftist Gustavo Petro and Trump-like right-wing millionaire Rodolfo Hernández. The two will face off in a runoff election on June 19, the outcome of which will determine whether Colombia addresses worsening inequality under Petro or ushers in a new era of populist conservatism under Hernández.

Ukraine Update: Not enough? Here’s the challenge of moving even four HIMARS

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I both love and hate Ukrainian aid announcements from the Pentagon. Here’s the latest: 

High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and ammunition;
Five counter-artillery radars;
Two air surveillance radars;
1,000 Javelins and 50 Command Launch Units;
6,000 anti-armor weapons;
15,000 155mm artillery rounds;
Four Mi-17 helicopters;
15 tactical vehicles;
Spare parts and equipment.

I love them because hey, Ukraine is getting more of what they need to win this war.

News Roundup: Lawmakers prepare to introduce (or block) new gun laws; DeSantis gets an actual army

After yet another mass murder in a public school, the race is on to do something, anything, to protect Americans from America’s gun-toting aspirational terrorists—and for Republicans, the challenge is how best to stonewall reforms until that urgency again dies down. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to polish his credentials of “like Trump, but somehow worse” with a recruitment drive for a new Florida state paramilitary force.