Today's Liberal News
Becerra’s cautious border play rankles White House
HHS chief brings a more cautious approach to immigration policy during what some see as an all-hands-on-deck moment.
My Grandmother Says She’ll Stop Sending Me Money Unless I Get Pregnant
Introducing Pay Dirt, Slate’s new money advice column.
The Jobs Report Was Shockingly Bad. Please Don’t Overreact.
Republican politicians have already made up their minds about what to do. They—and everyone else—should chill.
Republican Governors Are Now Cutting Off Unemployment Benefits to Force People Back to Work
Not only is it callous, it doesn’t even make sense.
Joe Biden Is Starting to Sound Hawkish About the Deficit. Uh-Oh.
The president suggested his agenda shouldn’t be paid for with debt.
Top CDC official resigns from post following reassignment
Nancy Messonnier had drawn former President Donald Trump’s ire last year for her early warning about the pandemic.
Pfizer seeks full FDA approval of its Covid-19 vaccine
Full approval would allow the drugmaker — the first to seek full approval — to market the shot directly to consumers.
Dear Care and Feeding: My Wild Aunt Used to Seem Awesome. But Can I Trust Her With My Kids?
Parenting advice on cool aunts, unwanted pregnancies, and b-day concerns.
Mark Carney on Canada’s economic growth: ‘It’s going to take more than one budget’
“There were elements of growth in the balance from what I can see and understand,” Carney said in a long response that didn’t directly answer the question.
How the Trudeau government plans to meet its climate goals
Chrystia Freeland uses Budget 2021 to reveal Canada’s new emissions target.
Richard Wright’s Novel About Racist Police Violence Was Rejected in 1941; It Has Just Been Published
Nearly 80 years ago, Richard Wright became one of the most famous Black writers in the United States with the publication of “Native Son,” a novel whose searing critique of systemic racism made it a best-seller and inspired a generation of Black writers.
“They Were Tortured”: 4 Families Torn Apart by Trump Are Reunited. 1,000+ Still Separated, Missing.
This week, four parents from Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico were reunited with their children in the United States after being separated under former President Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy. They were the first families to be reunited on U.S. soil since the Biden administration began its reunification process.
Shoshana Zuboff: Facebook’s Oversight Board Is Not Enough. The Government Has to Regulate Big Tech
Former President Donald Trump will continue to stay off Facebook after the company’s Oversight Board ruled Wednesday that his ban was justified for creating “an environment where a serious risk of violence was possible.” Trump was banned shortly after the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, which he helped foment by promoting baseless claims of election fraud. The Oversight Board also said Facebook should reassess its ban and make a final decision in six months.
“Nothing to Lose”: Colombians Protest “Fascist Mafia Regime” Amid Deadly Police & Military Crackdown
At least 30 people in Colombia have been reportedly killed since a nationwide uprising erupted against the government of right-wing President Iván Duque. Protesters are vowing to remain in the streets amid a deadly crackdown by police and military officers. About 800 people have been injured and 87 people are missing in the midst of the demonstrations, which were initially sparked by a now-withdrawn tax reform proposal, but they have since expanded in scope.
‘WTF Is Wrong With You?’: NRA Trashed For Tasteless Meme After Mass Shooting
The National Rifle Association picked a really weird way to mark a Mother’s Day that began with more deadly violence.
Facebook Was Right To Ban Trump For ‘Egging On’ Violent Capitol Mob, Says Board Member
Trump “put himself in this bed, and he can sleep in it,” former federal judge Michael McConnell told Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.
News Roundup: House Republicans fall into the Big Lie; Florida COVID-19 variants surge
In the news today: As House Republicans solidify plans to oust Rep. Liz Cheney from leadership, devotion to spreading party-favored hoaxes and propaganda becomes a Republican litmus test for membership. It is a fascist movement, and if it can’t win elections it intends to declare democracy itself is rigged against it. And Florida is facing a new post-spring break wave of COVID-19 infections, including the most cases of virus “variants” in any state.
The women of jazz who fought racism and sexism to open doors for their sisters
This story was written in celebration of International Jazz Day on April 30, the culmination of Jazz Appreciation Month, which this year was dedicated to “Women’s Impact and Contributions in Jazz.”
Five years ago, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama hosted the International Jazz Day All-Star Gala Concert in a pavilion on the South Lawn of the White House. The IJD program also included events all over Washington, D.C.
GOP Gov. Larry Hogan Slams His Party’s Division Over ‘Fealty To The Dear Leader’
“It just bothers me that you have to swear fealty to the dear leader or get kicked out of the party,” the Maryland governor said of Liz Cheney’s likely ouster.
I Can’t Get Over What My Wife Does Every Time We Finish Sex
She agreed she’d be horrified if I did this to her.
Rabidly pro-Trump ‘prophet’ gets pushed out by his own church
When Facebook’s Oversight Board upheld Facebook’s decision to lock Donald Trump out of his Facebook and Instagram accounts, it should have been bad news to the rabidly pro-Trump, charismatic Pentecostal “prophets” who have been insisting that Trump’s return to the White House is nigh. After all, it’s pretty clear that Trump made the board’s decision for it with his obstinate insistence that he had victory stolen from him.
GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger Compares Trump-Mesmerized Republican Party To The Titanic
And Donald Trump is hunting for “women’s clothing” so he can “get on the first lifeboat,” the Illinois lawmaker said.
GOP pollster on 2022: ‘Donald Trump single-handedly may cause people not to vote’
Normally it’s a given that the party that wins the White House will lose congressional seats in subsequent midterm elections. In 2010, Democrats got clobbered after Barack Obama’s historic 2008 victory. And a blue wave took hold in 2018, almost certainly in response to Donald Trump’s 2016 creepy-twins, blood-elevator Overlook Hotel red wave.
COVID-19 variants soar in Florida in weeks after crowded spring break
The restaurant business is booming in Florida, propped up by “a huge spring break and tourist influx,” reports The Washington Post as prelude to yet another story about how Americans are still not eagerly lining up to take the worst jobs in America even though restaurant owners really, really would prefer they did. But something else is booming in Florida as well, due to that same “huge” spring break: The COVID-19 pandemic.
House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy Says He Backs Ousting Liz Cheney From Role
McCarthy said he supports Rep. Elise Stefanik to replace Cheney for the job of Republican Conference chair.
Elon Musk Is Not Just a Celebrity
However your 2021 is going, what’s undeniable is that after Donald Trump left office earlier this year, a strange cultural quietude settled upon America. No one would dare call it peace. But the audiences for TV news and online media immediately shrunk. Rather than fretting quite as much about an imminent civil war, commentators have been arguing about sexy hip-hop videos.
Lockdown mentality still holding the economy back, banking official says
Neel Kashkari of the Minneapolis Fed says things should get better as people overcome fears related to the pandemic.