Today's Liberal News

California affirmative action initiative presents a test for allies

After a summer filled with passionate racial justice demonstrations, people and institutions around the country have been forced to reckon with their involvement in institutionalized racism. A recent survey found a dramatic shift in race relations in California, with an increasing number of white people acknowledging that people of color face frequent discrimination that consequently holds them back from jobs, promotions, and educational opportunities.

Joyfully waiting to vote: Nationwide dispatches from Vote Early Day voters

You’ve probably seen footage of Donald Trump’s first excursion into a library Saturday, when he shut down an entire South Florida precinct, just so he could vote for himself in a state where he does not live. But what about everyone else? With 10 days before Election Day, early voting is now open in almost every state that offers it, and voters were ready as soon as it happened where they live.

Saturday also marks the inaugural Vote Early Day.

How the Racism Baked Into Technology Hurts Teens

Lunga NtilaLast month, Twitter users uncovered a disturbing example of bias on the platform: An image-detection algorithm designed to optimize photo previews was cropping out Black faces in favor of white ones. Twitter apologized for this botched algorithm, but the bug remains.Acts of technological racism might not always be so blatant, but they are largely unavoidable.

Donald Trump’s Refugee Policy Is Bureaucratic Sadism

Donald Trump dishonors America in so many ways that it isn’t possible to keep them all in mind and still remember to brush your teeth. For example, how often do you reflect on the fact that the Trump administration has all but ended the tradition of accepting refugees into this country? In the decades between the presidency of Jimmy Carter, who signed the Refugee Act of 1980, and that of Barack Obama, the United States admitted an average of about 80,000 refugees annually.

Republicans Don’t Know What to Do With Their Bad-Faith ACA Case

Updated at 4:37 p.m. ET on October 24, 2020.“I’d like to terminate Obamacare,” President Donald Trump said at Thursday night’s debate. He said he hoped that the Supreme Court, flush with six conservative justices after Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s likely confirmation, would take care of the job for him. “Now it’s in court, because Obamacare is no good.

Higher Education Should Lead the Efforts to Reverse Structural Racism

The knee on the neck of George Floyd aggravated an American psyche already frayed by the pandemic and stay-at-home orders. Protesters from diverse backgrounds marched in the streets across the nation demanding change. Channeling the growing public and private support for meaningful change into action requires Americans, in every sector, to engage in difficult conversations, and to be honest about our problems and deliberate in developing solutions. We in higher education are no exception.

Nagorno-Karabakh: What’s at Stake in the Conflict Between Armenia & Azerbaijan?

As fighting continues between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, we look at the roots of the conflict that has already killed at least 700 people since fighting began in late September and which threatens to escalate despite two ceasefire attempts brokered by Russia. Nagorno-Karabakh, which lies inside Azerbaijan but is controlled by ethnic Armenians, was the site of a bloody conflict in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Friday Night Owls: With code changes, Facebook helped rightwing publishers and throttled the left

Night Owls, a themed open thread, appears at Daily Kos seven days a week

At Mother Jones, Monika Bauerlein and Clara Jeffery write—Facebook Manipulated the News You See to Appease Republicans, Insiders Say:

Near the close of the first year of the Trump presidency, executives at Facebook were briefed on some major changes to its News Feed—the code that determines which of the zillions of posts on the platform any one of us is shown when we look at Facebook.

New Civiqs survey finds top-two primary initiative failing in Florida

Civiqs’ new poll for Daily Kos finds 51% of Florida voters opposing Amendment 3, which would establish a top-two primary system in state-level races like governor and state legislature starting in 2024, while only 36% support it; respondents also favor Joe Biden 51-47 here. Amendment 3 would not apply to federal elections such as the presidential or congressional contests due to limitations on the scope of any single initiative.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez killed it on Twitter after Trump called her out at debate

Not only did Donald Trump avoid answering half the questions he was asked during the second and last presidential debate Thursday night, but he decided to name-drop Democratic representatives in Congress. In an attempt to criticize Joe Biden during a discussion on the climate crisis involving the Green New Deal, Trump said: “You know who developed it [the Green New Deal]? AOC plus three.