Aggregated News & Opinion
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Recent posts in bigger type —>
The 2017 US out-of-control per capita health care spending was $5322 more per person than in France, the highest rated system based on patient outcomes. The US wastes $1.8 Trillion+ per year on health care spending compared to the average 2017 total per capita costs of comparable yet profit-controlled advanced countries.
Let's end price gouging and adopt fair profit-controls!
Washington state: ‘Atmospheric rivers’ threaten new floods in hard-hit Washington state [British Columbia, too!]
Western areas still assessing millions of dollars’ worth of damage from flooding earlier this month
Associated Press in Bellingham, Washington | The Guardian | 21.11.27
Coronavirus live | Coronavirus: Covid live: suspected German and Czech Omicron cases; UK expert says pandemic ‘reboot’ unlikely [It's a race! Which will kill more: Fossil Fuel executives or Covid virus mutations?]
61 travellers from South Africa test positive for Covid in Netherlands; unequal sharing of Covid vaccines likely to lead to more variants, thinktank warns; travel bans target countries across southern Africa
- Suspected Omicron Covid cases found in Germany and Czech Republic
- Omicron variant unlikely to reboot Covid in UK, expert says
- Omicron variant spreads to Europe, UK announces countermeasures
- US, UK, Canada and Australia restrict travel from southern Africa
- First European case of new Covid variant detected in Belgium
- What do we know about the new ‘worst ever’ Covid variant?
- See all our coronavirus coverage
Léonie Chao-Fong (now), Harry Taylor , Aamna Mohdin and Samantha Lock (earlier) | The Guardian | 21.11.27
Minimize pollution! California May Ban New Oil Wells Near Homes. Let's Eliminate the Existing Problem While We're At It [Let's punish and stop those who harm and kill life on the Earth!]
This is an opportunity to advance climate, environmental, and economic justice.
JANE FONDA, DARRYL MOLINA SARMIENTO / Source: the Los Angeles Times | Common Dreams | 21.11.27
Nationalize fossil energy companies now! Why Big Oil's Pivot to Carbon Capture and Storage—While It Keeps on Drilling—Isn't a Climate Solution
No carbon removal approach—neither mechanical nor biological—will solve the climate crisis without an immediate transition away from fossil fuels.
JUNE SEKERA, NEVA GOODWIN / The Conversation | Common Dreams | 21.11.26
Coronavirus live | Coronavirus: Covid live: Sajid Javid says new variant ‘may pose substantial risk’ as more countries impose travel restrictions
Germany to join UK, India and Singapore in curbing arrivals, as South Africa says UK decision ‘seems to have been rushed’
Lucy Campbell (now); Martin Belam and Samantha Lock (earlier) | The Guardian | 21.11.26
Coronavirus live | Coronavirus: Covid live: France to announce new measures as cases surge; Italy ‘super green pass’ could restrict unvaccinated
France is to announce new Covid measures on Thursday; Italy considering plans that would only permit those with proof of jab to get into venues
Miranda Bryant (now); Martin Belam and Samantha Lock (earlier) | The Guardian | 21.11.24
The scale of the crisis is intimidating. But most people are already members of organizations – like our employers, universities, unions or religious groups – that are great avenues to fight for concrete climate results
Tayo Bero | The Guardian | 21.11.23
While the industry has an important role to play in moving to low-carbon economies it’s also hugely carbon intensive and predicted to become more so
XiaoZhi Lim | The Guardian | 21.11.23
Opinion | Vaccines and immunisation: How do you argue with anti-vaxxers who believe they’re on a noble mission? [It REALLY is a mad mad world!]
I have given up on the idea that facts alone will change a zealot’s mind, but a conversation shouldn’t be a battle for status or points
Myke Bartlett | The Guardian | 21.11.20
Howling at bad journalism!
BOB SOMERBY in Baltimore | The DailyHowler | DAILY
Coronavirus Former Trump adviser claims to ‘expose unvarnished truth’ of Covid in new book [From the cult of “We Make Shit Up To Be Important and Famous”]
Scott Atlas resigned after four months but blames Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx for ‘headline-dominating debacles’
Martin Pengelly in New York | The Guardian | 21.11.26
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Opinion | US politics: Republicans are quietly rigging election maps to ensure permanent rule [If Americans want Democracy they’ll have to emigrate! With congressional districts and the court systems both rigged, Democracy in America is nearly dead. The media and school textbooks have obviously been rigged too – note how progressive heroes Franklin and Eleanore Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, Thurgood Marshall, Pauli Murray and Jimmy Carter have disappeared from broadcasts, newspapers and books while undeserving Republicans are eulogized...] The past decade in Ohio shows how bad it can get – and how quickly. Despite the state’s voters often swinging Democratic, 75% of its congressional delegates are Republican  ‘The prime culprits behind all this election rigging are the statehouses themselves – mostly anonymous elected officials who few voters know but who wield far more power than most Americans appreciate.’ Photograph: Cory Clark/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock The long-term health of American democracy is in peril, to a degree far worse than people imagine. But not where most people are looking. While many eyes go to Washington DC or Mar-a-Lago, the attack on democracy is actually most concentrated and coordinated in state capitals. Whether it’s gerrymandering or voter suppression or attacks on offices that provide needed checks and balances – the states have become widely undemocratic. As I outline in my book Laboratories of Autocracy, the consequences of this anti-democratic movement are only getting worse. The past decade in Ohio, where I served in recent years as chair of the state Democratic party, shows how bad it can get – and how quickly.... David Pepper | The Guardian | 21.11.28
 Joe Manchind and Kyrsten Sinema leave the Senate chamber after a vote on 3 November. Photograph: Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times/Rex/
Shutterstock US Senate: How Manchin and Sinema’s status as Senate holdouts is proving lucrative [They choose their policy positions to attract the largest donation bribes, such as supporting coal power plant operation...] The Democratic senators have received a flood of money from conservative donors, leading some to raise concerns of corruption David Smith in Washington | The Guardian | 21.11.28
 Donald Trump: ‘An existential fraud who admits his unease by referring to himself in the third person.’ Photograph: Stephen Zenner/AFP/Getty Observer book of the week | History books: Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show by Jonathan Karl review – a tyrant’s last stand The ABC News correspondent offers a sobering glimpse of a man unfit to govern and the chaos wreaked by an ego unable to grasp its own ineptitude Peter Conrad | The Guardian | 21.11.28
The Observer | George Orwell: George Orwell: how romantic walks with girlfriends inspired Nineteen Eighty-Four Details from 50 newly released letters echo scenes between Winston and Julia in the dystopian novel  George Orwell, whose real name was Eric Blair. Photograph: Ullstein Bild/Getty Images Vanessa Thorpe | The Guardian | 21.11.28
| US politics: Interview ‘The goal was to silence people’: historian Joanne Freeman on congressional violence Paul Gosar was censured for a video depicting a colleague’s murder but physical assaults were a feature of the pre-civil war era  Paul Gosar of Arizona is not the first member of Congress to face censure but he is the most recent. Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP Joan E Greve in Washington | The Guardian | 21.11.28
As demand returns since initial pandemic slump, central banks need to balance recovery and rising costs  The European Central Bank president, Christine Lagarde, in Brussels. Photograph: François Lenoir/Reuters Dominic Rushe, Phillip Inman, Jennifer Rankin, Kim Willsher, Peter Hannam, Justin McCurry and Martin Farrer | The Guardian | 21.11.28
Climate crisis: Australia’s spy agency predicted the climate crisis 40 years ago – and fretted about coal exports [Merely brilliant scientists aren't good enough now – we need our best geniuses like Elon Musk to save us!] In a taste of things to come, a secret Office of National Assessment report worried the ‘carbon dioxide problem’ would hurt the nation’s coal industry  A composite image showing former Australian PM Malcolm Fraser and pioneering scientist Graeme Pearman Composite: Getty/Supplied Graham Readfearn | The Guardian | 21.11.28
The company has set an example in the fight against carbon – but it retains ties to obstructionist groups  Microsoft has made bold climate pledges but it still backs groups fighting against climate policy. Photograph: Mark Lennihan/AP When the UN’s landmark climate report was released in 2018, calling for urgent and unprecedented changes, Microsoft executives were told to “commit it to memory”, said Elizabeth Willmott, who leads the company’s carbon program. “And so we did.”The report warned the world must reach net-zero emissions by 2050 in order to avert catastrophic climate change. To achieve this, not only must the emissions released by countries and companies be dramatically curtailed, but billions of tons of carbon dioxide must be sucked out of the atmosphere. findings directly informed Microsoft’s climate policy, said Willmott. In January 2020, the company announced that it would be carbon negative by 2030 and by 2050 it would have removed from the atmosphere all the carbon it has emitted since it was founded in 1975. By making this pledge, the company joined a small group of businesses, including Ikea and the software company Intuit, committed to going further than net-zero.... Kyla Mandel | The Guardian | 21.11.28
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Unbribed government is essential to have Fair Wages and Fair Taxes: 'We Are Fighting Back': Global Black Friday Strikes and Protests Seek to #Make
Amazon
Pay "We are workers and activists divided by geography and our role in the global economy but united in our commitment to Make Amazon Pay fair wages, its taxes, and for its impact on the planet." KENNY STANCIL | Common Dreams | 21.11.27
MASSIVE RESISTANCE: In the 1950s, rather than integrate its public schools, Virginia closed them [Racist America persists!] The state’s policy of ‘Massive Resistance’ exemplifies the incendiary combination of race and education in the US By Susan Smith-Richardson and Lauren Burke | The Guardian | 21.11.27
Thanksgiving Lara Trump claims pricier turkeys are a liberal plot against Thanksgiving [From the cult of “We Make Shit Up To Be Important and Famous”] Ex-president’s daughter-in-law tells Fox News leftwing Americans ‘don’t want us to have any shared traditions’ Edward Helmore | The Guardian | 21.11.26
The US politics sketch | US news: Joe Lieberman on Biden, Trump and centrism: ‘It’s a strategy for making democracy work’ The Democratic ex-senator preaches a deeply unfashionable gospel of compromise in a country paralysed by civil war David Smith in Washington | The Guardian | 21.11.24
Kyle Rittenhouse: Interview A historian of white power reacts to the Rittenhouse verdict: ‘a bonanza for the far-right’ Kathleen Belew says Rittenhouse’s acquittal signals an approval for growing militant vigilantism against racial justice protestors April Glaser | The Guardian | 21.11.24
Republicans: Group’s 6 January donation shows Trump’s grip on attorneys general [Former Army War College tacticians are likely being utilized. Trump and his ilk wouldn’t understand complex strategy without a lot of help.] Watchdogs and ex-prosecutors have strongly criticised the Republican Attorneys General Association’s $150,000 donation Peter Stone | The Guardian | 21.11.24
US politics: Interview Congresswoman Jackie Speier: ‘Republicans are about doing what’s going to give them power’ The Democratic congresswoman talks about her effort to censure Paul Gosar, her retirement and the shifting dynamics of the House Joan E Greve in Washington | The Guardian | 21.11.24
| CO2 accelerates Doomsday Clock! Biden Drilling Report Blasted as 'Shocking Capitulation to the Needs of Corporate Polluters' [Biden reverts to corporate Democrat form for likely bribes, like Manchin.] "Greenlighting more fossil fuel extraction, then pretending it's OK by nudging up royalty rates, is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic," said one campaigner. JESSICA CORBETT | Common Dreams | 21.11.27
Clive Palmer Factcheck: Clive Palmer uses 12-minute radio interview to make false Covid claims [From the cult of “We Make Shit Up To Be Important and Famous”] Chair of United Australia party insists there is no evidence vaccinations have led to fewer deaths and that more people die on the road than from Covid Christopher Knaus | The Guardian | 21.11.26
Despite Thatcher and Reagan’s best efforts, there is and has always been such a thing as society. The question is not whether it exists, but what shape it must take in a post-pandemic world Jill Lepore in Washington | The Guardian | 21.11.26
Opinion | Immigration and asylum: The Guardian view on deaths in the Channel: the tide of xenophobia The government must stop pandering to anti-migrant sentiment and come up with a humane policy that meets its international responsibilities Editorial | The Guardian | 21.11.26
Opinion | Boris Johnson: The sudden scrutiny of Boris Johnson has one explanation: he’s served his purpose The prime minister has always been unfit to lead, but now the media – and even his own party – are pointing it out
Owen Jones | The Guardian | 21.11.26
Virtual Nations [An editorial promoting an anti-despot/fascist ideal] Instead of NATION-STATE-POLITICIANS essentially owning and controlling people (and their descendants ad infinitum) in "their" Nation State, wouldn't it be better if adults world-wide could contract with UN-certified professional agencies to perform nation-level fiduciary functions (certifications being updated at least annually).
— State, City and county governments would continue unchanged —
Marc Cherbonnier | The Baltimore Chronicle | Ref.
| Green light | Environment: What happens when America’s coal plants die? [Healthier and longer life-spans are a huge benefit!] Facing economic and environmental pressures, coal plants are closing across the US, leaving communities to work out how to keep afloat Matt Krupnick | The Guardian | 21.11.27
Business live | Business: FTSE 100 tumbles and oil hits two-month low as Covid variant fears hit markets – business live Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as London’s stock market heads for its worst day this year
Graeme Wearden | The Guardian | 21.11.26
Why prices are rising, how long this might last, and why inflation is a psychological as well as an economic phenomenon Lauren Aratani | The Guardian | 21.11.26
Opinion | Cryptocurrencies: No pension. No savings. No future. No wonder we’re betting the house on crypto We need a way out. We need a way up. That’s why I – and so many others – have jumped into cryptocurrency with both feet Rohit Thawani | The Guardian | 21.11.23
Opinion | Ahmaud Arbery: Justice prevailed in the trial of Ahmaud Arbery’s killers. In America, that’s a shock ["Conservative" Federalist Society judges—many appointed by Trump— dominate America's Justice System] The jury reached the right verdict – even as the criminal justice system did everything it could to exonerate the three men Moustafa Bayoumi | The Guardian | 21.11.26
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