Today's Liberal News

A Mars Rover Explored a Wasteland and Found an Oasis

Millions of miles away, on the surface of Mars, inside an enormous crater, a little NASA rover is taking some pictures. The view is quite stunning there—miles of undisturbed cinnamon terrain scattered with pebbles and boulders, with silky dunes where the craggy bedrock doesn’t peek through. But when the rover, named Perseverance, sent the photos back home from the crater, known as Jezero, scientists saw something more.

A Movie That Makes You Sympathize With a Monster

Julia Ducournau does not make movies that audiences are likely to see themselves in. Her knockout debut feature, Raw, follows a veterinary student who develops a craving for uncooked flesh, mostly of the human variety. Like so many horror films, the work is suffused with metaphors about hard-to-discuss topics—in this case, sexual maturity and peer pressure.

Elite Firefighters Have a Secret Skill

During fire season at the National Interagency Fire Center, a complex of buildings housing the top level of support for U.S. wildfire response, the coordination center looks about how you might expect. It features, most prominently, a massive digital clock and a projector screen filled with maps of fire risk and weather forecasts. But unless you’re well versed in wildfire suppression, a sight in the nearby loft might come as something of a surprise.

Ethiopia: New Reports Expose Ethnic Cleansing & Illegal Arms Shipments on Commercial Flights

Amid the mounting humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia, the Ethiopian government has been using the commercial airline Ethiopia Airlines to shuttle weapons and military vehicles from neighboring country Eritrea since the beginning of their civil war, according to a new CNN investigation. This comes as the United Nations estimates more than 5 million people in the country’s Tigray region are now in need of humanitarian assistance in order to survive, but U.N.

Federal Judge Blocks Texas Abortion Ban, Blasts “Offensive Deprivation of Such an Important Right”

A federal judge has temporarily blocked Texas’s near-total ban on abortions, granting the Justice Department’s emergency request to halt the law while courts consider its legality. In his ruling, Judge Robert Pitman slammed the Texas ban’s unconstitutionality, writing, “This Court will not sanction one more day of this offensive deprivation of such an important right.

Pandora Papers: Massive Leak Exposes How Elite Shield Their Wealth & Avoid Taxes in Colonial Legacy

The Pandora Papers, described as “the world’s largest-ever journalistic collaboration,” have revealed the secret financial dealings of the world’s richest and most powerful people. “We’ve uncovered a system that benefits the few at the expense of the many,” says Ben Hallman, senior editor at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, who details some of the project’s main revelations so far.

What’s new at Daily Kos? Here’s what we were up to in September

In years past, we’ve usually expected news and engagement to pick up after Labor Day when Congress is back in session. But this year, news picked up even earlier due to the Supreme Court ruling over abortion, which allowed Texas’ outrageous SB 8 law to stand—and then let’s not forget the ongoing pandemic. After a drop in engagement in the spring and early summer, September marked the third month of increased engagement on the site.

Students stage walk-out in support of openly gay senior who says bullying has turned violent

Being a teenager is hard for everyone, at one point or another (or many points), no matter what. Even today, however, it’s still difficult for LGBTQ+ (or questioning) youth in a way that is unique from their cisgender, heterosexual peers. These difficulties can be even worse, of course, for LGBTQ+ youth who live with multiple marginalized identities; a bisexual teen of color, for example, or an openly trans high schooler who uses a wheelchair, and so on.

Police interest in joining Oath Keepers actually surged after Jan. 6, hacked data release exposes

A hacker’s release last week of data from the Oath Keepers organization—which played a key role in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection—revealed the breadth and depth of the penetration into the ranks of law-enforcement authorities by such far-right extremists. It also revealed the importance of weeding them out from the ranks of police officers—and the urgency of acting quickly.

Not only was there a surge in interest in joining the group after the Jan.

Ted Lasso and the Limits of American Optimism

Listen & subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Pocket CastsIn the first episode of The Review, our Culture staff writers David Sims, Megan Garber, and Sophie Gilbert discuss the unlikely hit that is Ted Lasso. Its Emmy-winning first season—and its smart writing and heartwarming positivity—connected with pandemic audiences.