Today's Liberal News

Tucker Carlson Is Stirring Up Hatred of America

All around you are swirling scenes of violence—explosions in Baghdad, ISIS operatives slitting the throat of an infidel, the chaos around the U.S. Capitol on January 6. You see jarring images of blood and brutality; you hear the grating sound of screaming; you feel the rush of fear and rage.But then a calm, sympathetic man steps forward, dressed in a button-down shirt. He explains all of it.

A Movie That Reimagines What Sequels Are For

Sequels are clogging theaters this fall—just look at the new entries in the James Bond, Venom, Halloween, and Marvel franchises. Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir Part II is yet another retread, following up on her 2019 movie about a young filmmaker coming of age and navigating a doomed relationship. But this is not a typical sequel, and in a cinematic landscape often dominated by lazy, cash-grab blockbusters, Hogg’s work stands out.

As SCOTUS Reviews Texas Abortion Ban, Activists Look to New Strategies to Save Reproductive Freedom

We look at Monday’s Supreme Court oral arguments on the constitutionality of Texas’s near-total ban on abortions with legendary lawyer Kathryn “Kitty” Kolbert, who argued the 1992 landmark Supreme Court case credited with saving Roe v. Wade. “’Save Roe’ has been our mantra for so many years, and it no longer works because of the ultraconservatie nature of this Supreme Court,” Kolbert says.

Samoan Climate Activist Brianna Fruean: If Pacific Islands Drown, the Rest of the World Is Doomed

We speak with Brianna Fruean, an activist from Samoa, who implored global leaders at the U.N. climate summit to consider how small islands like Samoa, Tutuila and Tonga might drown without urgent action against rising sea levels. She told the audience, “If you’re looking for inspiration on climate leadership, take a look at young Pacific people.” Many Pacific islands are in danger of vanishing in the next decade if sea levels and global temperatures continue to rise.

Tom Goldtooth at COP26: Absolute Carbon Reduction Is “Issue of Life and Death” for Indigenous Peoples

Countries attending the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow have made new pledges to cut their emissions, but activists say it’s not enough to avert the worst of the climate crisis. India has vowed to reduce its carbon emissions to net zero by 2070. Over 100 leaders have agreed to end deforestation by 2030. The United States is announcing a new plan to reduce methane emissions, among other measures.

Bill McKibben: “Manchin’s Latest Hissy Fit” Threatens to Curb Biden Agenda at U.N. Climate Summit

As President Biden addressed the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow on Monday, warning that “climate change is already ravaging the world,” back home his climate agenda was dealt a major setback when Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia criticized the slimmed-down $1.85 trillion Build Back Plan. “The air went out of this conference” when Biden showed up with no major climate legislation passed, says Bill McKibben of 350.org in Glasgow.

News Roundup: Manchin has yet more demands; Supreme Court mulls Texas abortion ban

In the news today: Just as Democratic lawmakers seemed on the cusp of an infrastructure agreement, Sen. Joe Manchin held his very own press conference to announce yet another round of new complaints, criticisms, and demands. From the outside, it looked like an effort to sabotage both infrastructure bills—but Manchin may just be addicted to hearing himself talk.

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How Virginia’s Governor Race Could Impact 2024

Gubernatorial races can quickly become proxies for nationwide grievances and allegiances, and Tuesday’s neck-and-neck election between the Republican Glenn Youngkin and the Democrat Terry McAuliffe for the governorship of Virginia is no exception.

Jury says private prison profiteer must pay $17.3 million to immigrants forced to work for $1 a day

On Oct. 27, a court determined that GEO Group violated Washington state’s minimum wage law by paying immigrants detained at the Northwest ICE Processing Center (NWIPIC) just $1 per day for their forced labor. The next step was for the judge to determine how much the private prison profiteer “unfairly gained from its wage law violations spanning more than 15 years,” which could total millions, the Associated Press said.

Wyoming librarians won’t face obscenity charges over stocking sex ed, LGBTQ books for youth

As Daily Kos previously covered, a large-scale controversy has targeted a small library in Campbell County, Wyoming. Why? Anti-LGBTQ+ hysteria, of course. As you might remember, several community members were upset to realize that children’s and young adult books about LGBTQ+ issues and sexual education were available for check out at the library. These complaints resulted in 27 books being challenged, a process that any library patron can initiate for any book.

The Myth of Root Canals

Do you know what’s going on inside your teeth? I had never even contemplated the matter until April, when one of my molars began its revolt and my teeth became the only things I was capable of contemplating. As anyone who’s been in this position knows, the quaint discomfort that the word toothache implies doesn’t capture the incredible misery that a toothache can produce; sometimes, the pain was so bad that I found it difficult to use my laptop.

America Has Lost the Plot on COVID

We know how this ends: The coronavirus becomes endemic, and we live with it forever. But what we don’t know—and what the U.S. seems to have no coherent plan for—is how we are supposed to get there.