Today's Liberal News

Negotiations over boosting child tax credits are proof we are a crooked, crooked country

Remember the expanded child tax credit? You know, the program that singlehandedly boosted millions of American children out of poverty, only to send them crashing back down because Republicans absolutely refused to keep the program running no matter how successful it was and were, in fact, enraged that Democrats managed to pass it in the first place? The one that saw Democratic Sen.

The Wild Future of Artificial Intelligence

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.OpenAI’s impressive new artificial-intelligence chatbot, ChatGPT, has intensified the debate over what the rise of AI-generated writing and art means for work, culture, education, and more.

What Does a Good Health-Care System Look Like?

This is an edition of Up for Debate, a newsletter by Conor Friedersdorf. On Wednesdays, he rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here.Last week I asked, “What’s been your experience with the health-care system and what lessons have you drawn?”Dennis kicks us off with a near-death experience:
I was young and foolish.

Is This the ‘Kitty Hawk Moment’ for Fusion Energy?

Tomorrow, the U.S. Department of Energy is expected to announce that the era of fusion power is finally upon us: Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in California, have generated energy with a controlled nuclear fusion reaction. It has already been hailed as a transformative moment, even as the nature and reality of that transformation are nigh-impossible to discern.

Crypto Was Always Smoke and Mirrors

The world of cryptocurrency is rich with eccentric characters and anonymous Twitter personalities. So perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that one of the early figures who called attention to the problems with Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, is a 30-year-old Michigan psychiatrist who investigates financial crimes as a hobby.James Block, who runs a crypto newsletter called Dirty Bubble Media, has gotten overlooked in the swift and spectacular collapse of FTX.

The Erudite, Absurd White Lotus Finale

This article contains spoilers through the Season 2 finale of The White Lotus.In an interview with NPR’s Fresh Air last week, the writer and director Mike White suggested that his hit HBO series The White Lotus had less in common with most prestige TV dramas than with the network shows of his youth: Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, Laverne & Shirley. I appreciate his lack of pomposity, but this is total stronzata, as one of the artichoke-wielding di Grasso women might say.

“We Are Fighting for Freedom”: 2022 Nobel Laureates from Ukraine, Russia & Belarus in Their Own Words

We feature excerpts from activists from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus who were honored Saturday at the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, a rebuke to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who just days earlier vowed that his war in Ukraine would be a “long process” with no clear end in sight. Jan Rachinsky accepted on behalf of the Russian civil rights group Memorial, which was shuttered by the government last year.

“A Personified Weapon of Mass Destruction”: Ex-Arms Trafficking Inspector on Freed Russian Viktor Bout

Brittney Griner’s release from Russia has brought renewed attention to the notorious Russian arms dealer whom the U.S. exchanged for the basketball star in a prisoner swap. Viktor Bout, the former Soviet military officer who became known as the “Merchant of Death,” was serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States for conspiracy to commit terrorism.

Supreme Court Weighs Voting Rights Case Based on Fringe Theory That Could Upend Democracy

The Supreme Court is considering a North Carolina redistricting case that could have far-reaching implications for voting rights in the 2024 election and beyond. At stake in Moore v. Harper is whether North Carolina Republican lawmakers had the authority to overturn a state Supreme Court ruling that redrew the state’s congressional map due to partisan gerrymandering.

Ukraine Update: The infuriating reason the U.S. is suddenly slow-rolling Ukrainian military aid

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UPDATE: Sunday, Dec 11, 2022 · 10:37:51 PM +00:00 · kos

If you are regular readers of our Ukraine coverage, you should know better than to hyperventilate over Bakhmut. While there’s been talk about some Russian gains around the town, Def Mon puts it all in perspective in this thread: 

Bakhmut These images shows the RU progress in the Bakhmut area for the last 3 months. Can we all calm down now? 2022-08-31 vs 2022-12-11 pic.twitter.

Gunfire attacks on power substations have been happening in other regions besides Moore County

The 40,000-plus North Carolinians who have been without power since Saturday because someone knocked out the power grid in Moore County have largely been restored to service now, thanks to workers at Duke Energy who scrambled to replace the equipment destroyed in what has all the earmarks of a domestic terrorist attack. The investigation into the attacks continues apace, with the FBI issuing search warrants both for individuals and for cell phone data.