Russia oil shock looms over Fed inflation fight
The Fed is already expected to begin a campaign of interest rate increases next month in a bid to remove its support for economic growth amid a blistering job market and rapidly rising prices.
Today's Liberal News
Biden takes victory lap with January jobs report
“America’s job machine is going stronger than ever,” Biden said at the White House.
U.S. employers shrug off Omicron, add 467,000 jobs in January
The burst of jobs came despite a wave of Omicron inflections that sickened millions of workers, kept many consumers at home and left businesses from restaurants to manufacturers short-staffed.
Opinion | Why Are Minority-Owned Banks Disappearing? Washington Holds the Smoking Gun
Congress needs to create a new safety net for such lenders — not let regulators squeeze them out of business.
A NATO No-Fly Zone in Ukraine Would Be “Direct Involvement in the War Against Russia,” Experts Warn
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to demand the U.S. and NATO allies impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, an idea that President Biden has rejected even as a growing number of Republicans embrace the idea despite the risk it could draw the U.S. directly into the war against Russia and possibly spark a nuclear confrontation.
Ukraine update: Ukraine retakes territory; Koch Industries says it will stay in Russia
Today saw major developments with the Ukrainian recapture of a town 75 miles into Russia-held territory, yet another indication that the stretched-thin nature of Russian advances may be rendering their territorial gains tenuous at best. Ukraine is also using more artillery attacks, which might suggest that weapons held in the western edge of the country to defend against a Russian incursion there are being redeployed to batter now-stagnant Russian positions.
Stacey Abrams Is ‘United Earth President’ On ‘Star Trek: Discovery’
Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is on the scene to help save the cosmos in the Season 4 finale.
Moderna asks FDA to authorize second booster shot for all adults
FDA is set to convene its advisory committee of vaccine experts next month to deliberate how to approach Covid booster shots.
‘They can row home’: Russian oligarch’s yacht is stranded because Norwegians refuse to refuel it
Vladimir Putin’s fatal error was assuming everyone in the United States was as weak, venal, oafish, and self-aggrandizing as Donald Trump, when in reality no more than half of us are. Of course, if you’d spent more time around Trump and Steven Seagal than with almost any other American, you’d probably think you could buy off the country for a G.I. Joe Cobra kimono and a jumbo tub of Cool Ranch-flavored Crisco.
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame just issued a public statement in response to Dolly Parton’s rejection
Earlier this week, Daily Kos covered Dolly Parton’s endearing, humble statement in which she said she respectfully declined the opportunity to be considered for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Turns out it’s too late for Parton’s withdrawal. Thursday, the organization responded by telling the general public that about 1,200 ballots have already gone out to voters—and her name is on them, according to The Washington Post.
Nearly two years after the 2020 uprisings, the war on Black lives continues
by Cat Brooks
This article was originally published at Prism.
On March 13, 2020, 26-year-old Breonna Taylor was asleep with her partner Kenneth Walker when they were startled awake by three white Louisville, Kentucky, police officers breaking down their door during a no-knock warrant raid. The medical technician was killed, and her home was never searched. No one has been held accountable.
Schwarzenegger is immensely popular in Russia. Watch him address fans about the war in Ukraine
On Thursday, former California Governor and action-movie hero Arnold Schwarzenegger recorded a video and put it out “through various different channels,” in hopes of reaching some of the Russian citizens who are likely unable to get news outside of Putin-sanctioned war propaganda. Schwarzenegger, popular around the world as a real-life muscle-bound superhero, does have an appeal that’s hard to pin down.
Madison Cawthorn Stars In Russian TV Propaganda For Calling Zelenskyy A Thug
Russian state TV has “jumped” on Cawthorn’s comments and played them “over and over,” said NBC News correspondent Raf Sanchez.
Texas Attorney General Attacks Nation’s Highest-Ranking Openly Transgender Official
Continuing his transphobia, Ken Paxton intentionally misgendered HHS Assistant Secretary Rachel Levine for being honored as “woman of the year.
Bill Promotes California As US Refuge For Transgender Youth
The bill is meant to help parents in other states who risk being criminally prosecuted for supporting their children’s access to gender-affirming procedures and other health care.
California Lawmakers Vote To Make Abortions Cheaper
“Protecting access to abortion is important now, more than ever,” said Assemblymember Akilah Weber, who is also an OB-GYN.
I Have a Message for My Russian Friends
I have a message for my Russian friends, and for the Russian soldiers serving in Ukraine: There are things going on in the world that have been kept from you, terrible things that you should know about. But before I tell you about the harsh realities, let me tell you about the Russian who became my hero.In 1964, when I was 14 years old, I had the chance to attend the World Weightlifting Championships in Vienna.
Another COVID Wave Is Looming
About three weeks ago, COVID case rates in the United Kingdom made an abrupt about-face, spurred on by a more transmissible Omicron subvariant called BA.2. (So far, there is no reason to believe the new subvariant causes more severe disease.) Case rates are rising, too, in Switzerland and Greece and Monaco and Italy and France. Given that BA.
Europe’s Covid spike has Biden officials concerned, could lead to return of masks
Over the past two years, the U.S. has experienced Covid waves similar to those in Europe — only several weeks later.
Why We Should Read Hannah Arendt Now
This article has been adapted from the introduction to The Folio Society’s new edition of Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism.So much of what we imagine to be new is old; so many of the seemingly novel illnesses that afflict modern society are really just resurgent cancers, diagnosed and described long ago. Autocrats have risen before; they have used mass violence before; they have broken the laws of war before.
Only NATO Can Save Putin
Sign up for Tom’s newsletter, Peacefield, here.Russian President Vladimir Putin is in trouble. Despite his limited gains on the ground in Ukraine, he is facing strategic defeat in a war that no one (including me) would have expected him to lose. The vaunted Russian army has turned out to be a hollow force whose major skill sets seem to be bullying its own conscripts and killing foreign civilians.
Biden picks Ashish Jha as new Covid-19 czar
Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, will lead the White House’s Covid-19 response.
U.S. Accuses Russia of Using Cluster Bombs in Ukraine as Both Refuse to Endorse International Ban
President Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal for the first time Wednesday for atrocities in Ukraine, as the House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing on whether Russian forces have been using cluster munitions in populated areas in Ukraine. Cluster bombs explode in midair and spew hundreds of smaller “bomblets.” The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said their use in Ukraine may amount to war crimes.
Syrian Activist Condemns Russia for Targeting Civilians & Hospitals from Aleppo to Mariupol
As the war in Ukraine enters its fourth week, Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have increasingly attacked civilian areas to pound Ukrainian cities into submission, a strategy Russia has employed to devastating effect in Syria, where the Russian Air Force has bombed many cities to rubble in an effort to support the government of Bashar al-Assad since entering the war in 2015.
Phyllis Bennis: The Best Way to Help Ukraine Is Diplomacy, Not War & Increased Militarization
President Biden announced $800 million in new military aid for Ukraine on Wednesday, just days after Congress cleared a $1.5 trillion spending bill that included nearly $14 billion for Ukrainian humanitarian aid and security assistance. Experts warn that sending more lethal weapons could escalate war and result in more losses for Ukraine.
U.S. pushes for more global sharing of health tech in next pandemic
Easier access to vaccines at center of Biden administration’s WHO effort ahead of future public health emergencies, document reveals.
Pfizer seeks emergency authorization for 2nd Covid booster for 65-plus
The request for a second booster shot is based on two real-world data sets suggesting another vaccine dose boosts protection against the Omicron variant while maintaining its safety profile.
‘We need this money’: Covid funding stalls as Congress, White House point fingers
There appears to be no clear strategy from either the White House or Capitol Hill to secure the funds.
CDC wants to monitor poop: States aren’t all on board
Wastewater surveillance gained popularity during the pandemic as state and local health officials demonstrated how they could detect the coronavirus in their community’s sewage systems before residents developed symptoms.
U.S. inflation soared 7.9 percent in past year, a fresh 40-year high
The increase reported by the Labor Department reflected the 12 months ending in February and didn’t include most of the oil and gas price increases that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb.