Today's Liberal News

Monday Night Owls: Labor and climate activists have a common enemy: ‘right-to-work’ for less laws

Night Owls is a themed open thread appearing at Daily Kos seven days a week.

Kate Aronoff at The New Republic writes—Right to Work on a Hot Planet. Labor and climate campaigners quite literally share a common enemy. The name often ends in Koch:

The Protecting the Right to Organize Act—which passed out of the House last February, and which Biden has voiced support for—would preempt the core of statewide right-to-work measures.

Biden continues using executive power to help working people

President Joe Biden will sign an executive order strengthening Buy American policies on Monday. While such provisions, which encourage federal agencies to buy U.S.-made products, already exist, they’re filled with loopholes and haven’t always been followed. 

“Existing Buy American rules establish a domestic content threshold—the amount of a product that must be made in the U.S.

Hollywood’s Patience Is Frustrating—But Necessary

In early December, it seemed like a dam was about to break in Hollywood. With the pandemic certain to stretch on for more than a year and little hope of theaters worldwide returning to full capacity, WarnerMedia announced that it would release all of its 2021 movies on HBO Max and in theaters simultaneously. The massive decision sparked concerns that other major movies would be rebranded as at-home experiences too. But by and large, other studios haven’t followed Warnermedia’s lead.

The Pandemic Is Finally Softening. Will That Last?

In the past week, a new picture has emerged in COVID-19 data: The pandemic seems to be receding from its high-water mark in the United States. The most dependable metric of COVID-19’s spread—the number of people currently in the hospital with the disease—is in its first sustained, week-over-week decline since September, according to the COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic. Hospitalizations fell in the past week in every state but Vermont.

What Hank Aaron Told Me

One morning in Milwaukee in 1972, I read in the sports pages that my hero, Henry Aaron, was getting hate mail and death threats simply for following his dream. Hank, the superstar outfielder for the Atlanta Braves, was approaching what was then considered the greatest record in sports: the career home-run record of 714, held by the legendary Babe Ruth. During his chase of the Babe, Hank received 929,000 letters—at an ounce a piece, 29 tons of mail.

Rev. William Barber Says Biden Admin Must Not Sacrifice Racial & Economic Justice for False Unity

We look at how COVID-19 has increased economic inequality with anti-poverty campaigner Reverend William Barber, who delivered the homily at the official inaugural prayer service. Barber says President Joe Biden’s focus on unity cannot come at the expense of major reforms needed to fight systemic racism, poverty, environmental destruction and more. “It cannot be just kumbaya. It has to be fundamental change,” he says.

The Far Right’s Fear of ‘Glowies’

Updated at 9:15 a.m. E.T. on January 25, 2021Judging by the actions of those who stormed the Capitol, far-right extremists don’t fear arrest. But they do fear one thing: glowies.During the Trump administration, many far-right groups’ main concern was figuring out how to recruit more people to the cause.