CDC loosens Covid isolation guidance
The guidance for Covid now aligns with RSV and the flu and comes amid a marked decrease in Covid-related hospitalizations and deaths, and as many people tell officials they don’t bother to test when ill.
Today's Liberal News
Alabama legislature votes to restore IVF access
The votes in the House and the Senate come nearly two weeks after the state Supreme Court ruled that frozen eggs are children, setting off a national debate about how IVF is performed in the U.S.
‘Scratching their heads’: State lawmakers take a closer look at personhood laws in wake of Alabama ruling
The Alabama Supreme Court ruling that granted legal personhood to frozen embryos puts a new spotlight on states with laws that confer rights on embryos from the moment of fertilization.
Liberals Dreamed of This Economy For Decades. What If Voters Don’t Like It?
Policymakers were determined to avoid the mistakes of the Great Recession — and they succeeded. But now they are in a mood of “fear and introspection.
Biden’s economy keeps messing up Trump’s message
“You can’t blame the president when policies go wrong, and then say he’s not responsible if things are going right.
US employers added surprisingly robust 353,000 jobs in January in further sign of economic strength
The unemployment rate stayed at 3.7%, just above a half-century low.
Biden’s new economic messaging strategy: Attack Trump’s tax legacy
The strategy shift focuses on Trump’s tax law and poses a simple question to voters: Whose side are you on?
The Intercept: New York Times Exposé Lacks Evidence to Claim Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence Oct. 7
We speak with Jeremy Scahill and Ryan Grim of The Intercept about their exposé of a major New York Times piece into alleged mass rapes committed by Hamas militants on October 7 that raises serious questions about the accuracy of the story. The Times article was headlined “’Screams Without Words’: How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on Oct.
“Just Being Racist”: Biden & Trump Push Anti-Immigrant Policies in Dueling Border Visits
Joe Biden and Donald Trump both visited the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas on Thursday, where the two leading presidential candidates each pitched anti-immigration measures to further militarize the border and restrict asylum. Meanwhile, a federal judge blocked a new Texas law set to go into effect that would give police the power to arrest migrants they suspect of entering the U.S. without authorization.
Israel Kills 104 Palestinians Waiting for Food Aid as U.N. Expert Accuses Israel of Starving Gaza
In Gaza City, at least 104 Palestinian refugees were killed Thursday when Israeli troops opened fire on a crowd waiting for food aid. “This isn’t the first time people have been shot at by Israeli forces while people have been trying to access food,” says the U.N.’s special rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, who accuses Israel of the war crime of intentional starvation.
Sen. Merkley: McConnell Paralyzed the Senate & Turned Supreme Court into “Far-Right Legislature”
As Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell announces he will step down as the Senate’s Republican leader after 17 years — the longest term in Senate history — we speak with Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, who says, “McConnell’s legacy has been one of obstruction.” He describes McConnell’s “aggressive” use of the filibuster, the topic of Merkley’s new book, Filibustered!: How to Fix the Broken Senate and Save America, as having “broken the cycle in which government can function.
On SNL, Sydney Sweeney Proves She Can Do Anything
Sydney Sweeney seems to enjoy making jokes about how big her breasts are. She once announced that her grandparents declared that she had the “best tits in Hollywood.” And she alluded to her bra size in her Saturday Night Live monologue this weekend, in which she described how she presented her parents with a “backup plan” if her initial attempt to break into acting failed. A PowerPoint slide flashed on the screen that read: Plan B: Show Boobs. It got a knowing laugh.
Americans overwhelmingly support keeping IVF legal for women, poll finds
Eighty-six percent of those surveyed said IVF should be legal for women trying to get pregnant.
A 17th-Century Nun’s Feminist Manifesto
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.
Welcome back to The Daily’s Sunday culture edition, in which one Atlantic writer or editor reveals what’s keeping them entertained.
A Persistent Lightning Mystery Has Finally Been Solved
This article was originally published by The Conversation.
It’s been a warm day, maybe even a little humid, and the tall clouds in the distance remind you of cauliflower. You hear a sharp crack, like the sound of a batter hitting a home run, or a low rumble reminiscent of a truck driving down the highway. A distant thunderstorm, alive with lightning, is making itself known.
How to Tackle Truth Decay
When then-President Donald Trump was briefed on the California wildfires in 2020, the scientific opinion he heard was that climate change was real and had contributed to the conflagrations that ended up consuming more than 4 million acres and killing 31 people. His response? “Science doesn’t know.”
Millions of Americans trusted Trump, a fact he leveraged to attack the trustworthiness of science itself. Trump’s actions are part of a larger pattern of assault on expertise.
Tomato & Lettuce
Then, everything was garnish,
two kids and a house,
a wife who kept the
beds made, shirts ironed,
secrets hidden like dust
on the canned goods.
What can’t be washed
with vinegar—
scum of the coffee pot—or
set out in the sun with
fresh linen
my mother swears
had to be ironed
and I believe men
made work for women,
invented tile,
starch, matrimony,
and ama de casa
to chop the tomato
and lettuce sometimes
in bowls, often on the side
as adornment.
CVS, Walgreens to begin dispensing abortion pills this month
The move comes just weeks before the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case that could prohibit brick-and-mortar pharmacies from dispensing the commonly used abortion pill.
CDC loosens Covid isolation guidance
The guidance for Covid now aligns with RSV and the flu and comes amid a marked decrease in Covid-related hospitalizations and deaths, and as many people tell officials they don’t bother to test when ill.
Alabama legislature votes to restore IVF access
The votes in the House and the Senate come nearly two weeks after the state Supreme Court ruled that frozen eggs are children, setting off a national debate about how IVF is performed in the U.S.
‘Scratching their heads’: State lawmakers take a closer look at personhood laws in wake of Alabama ruling
The Alabama Supreme Court ruling that granted legal personhood to frozen embryos puts a new spotlight on states with laws that confer rights on embryos from the moment of fertilization.
GAO: Billions wasted on federal health insurance program
The Office of Personnel Management, which oversees health insurance for 8 million federal workers and their families at a cost of more than $60 billion a year, has never checked the eligibility of those on its rolls.
Liberals Dreamed of This Economy For Decades. What If Voters Don’t Like It?
Policymakers were determined to avoid the mistakes of the Great Recession — and they succeeded. But now they are in a mood of “fear and introspection.
Biden’s economy keeps messing up Trump’s message
“You can’t blame the president when policies go wrong, and then say he’s not responsible if things are going right.
US employers added surprisingly robust 353,000 jobs in January in further sign of economic strength
The unemployment rate stayed at 3.7%, just above a half-century low.
Biden’s new economic messaging strategy: Attack Trump’s tax legacy
The strategy shift focuses on Trump’s tax law and poses a simple question to voters: Whose side are you on?
The Intercept: New York Times Exposé Lacks Evidence to Claim Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence Oct. 7
We speak with Jeremy Scahill and Ryan Grim of The Intercept about their exposé of a major New York Times piece into alleged mass rapes committed by Hamas militants on October 7 that raises serious questions about the accuracy of the story. The Times article was headlined “’Screams Without Words’: How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on Oct.
“Just Being Racist”: Biden & Trump Push Anti-Immigrant Policies in Dueling Border Visits
Joe Biden and Donald Trump both visited the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas on Thursday, where the two leading presidential candidates each pitched anti-immigration measures to further militarize the border and restrict asylum. Meanwhile, a federal judge blocked a new Texas law set to go into effect that would give police the power to arrest migrants they suspect of entering the U.S. without authorization.
Israel Kills 104 Palestinians Waiting for Food Aid as U.N. Expert Accuses Israel of Starving Gaza
In Gaza City, at least 104 Palestinian refugees were killed Thursday when Israeli troops opened fire on a crowd waiting for food aid. “This isn’t the first time people have been shot at by Israeli forces while people have been trying to access food,” says the U.N.’s special rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, who accuses Israel of the war crime of intentional starvation.
Sen. Merkley: McConnell Paralyzed the Senate & Turned Supreme Court into “Far-Right Legislature”
As Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell announces he will step down as the Senate’s Republican leader after 17 years — the longest term in Senate history — we speak with Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, who says, “McConnell’s legacy has been one of obstruction.” He describes McConnell’s “aggressive” use of the filibuster, the topic of Merkley’s new book, Filibustered!: How to Fix the Broken Senate and Save America, as having “broken the cycle in which government can function.