(2020-12-01). "Part of the Solution": Meet the Black Doctor Who Joined a Vaccine Trial After Her Dad Died of COVID. democracynow.org 
As the drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna seek emergency approval for their coronavirus vaccines, public health bodies and regulators are weighing how to distribute the vaccines and who will get access to them. The pandemic is disproportionately impacting African American, Latinx and Indigenous communities, exposing long-standing inequities and systemic racism in the U.S. healthcare system. These same communities are underrepresented in the clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines, due in part to centuries of abusive treatment at the hands of medical researchers. We speak with Dr. Chris Pernell, a public health physician…
(2020-12-01). Vaccine Ethics: Doctor Warns Against Paying People to Get COVID Vaccine as U.S. Preps Distribution. democracynow.org 
As distribution of coronavirus vaccines draws near, a recent poll suggests that 42% of Americans are reluctant to take the vaccine. In response, some, including former Maryland congressmember and presidential candidate John Delaney, are pushing to pay people to get vaccinated, a move being discouraged by many, including Dr. Monica Peek, a physician, associate professor of medicine and health disparities researcher at the University of Chicago. She says there are major concerns about how to ensure at-risk groups get vaccinated while overcoming public doubts about the safety and efficacy of the vaccines, but paying…
(2020-12-01). World AIDS Day Is Grim Reminder of an Ongoing Epidemic, with 700,000 Dead from HIV/AIDS in 2019. democracynow.org 
December 1 is World AIDS Day, and as the world waits on an effective vaccine for COVID-19, we look at the ongoing AIDS epidemic and how the coronavirus has threatened treatment for those living with HIV. Author and journalism professor Steven Thrasher says the coronavirus has amplified racial, class and other disparities, just as AIDS has done for decades, and that treatments must have an antiracist and anti-capitalist foundation in order to be successful. "HIV/AIDS has continued to kill way too many people. Almost 700,000 people died last year," says Thrasher. "The problem is not just the drugs. It's the conditi…
(2020-12-01). Cabinet of the living dead. therealnews.com 
Neera Tanden? Rahm Emanuel? Here's the deal, Jack: President-elect Joe Biden's cabinet picks and top candidates so far comprise a who's who of neoliberal ghouls from the Obama and Clinton eras. We speak with political consultant Adriel Hampton and Jacobin staff writer Branko Marcetic about whether the battle lines have been drawn between progressives and establishment Dems.
(2020-12-01). Barack Obama Reveals He Would Have Run For a Third Term. sputniknews.com The 44th president made the statement while promoting his book titled "A Promised Land". In his memoir, the Democrat talks about his political career from the moment he became a state senator for Illinois to becoming the first African American president of the United States.
(2020-12-01). Kamala Harris' Prosecutors Sent This Innocent Man to Prison for Murder. Now He's Talking. indybay.org In a New York Times op-ed published in January, University of San Francisco law professor Lara Bazelon described various instances when Harris, either as district attorney or state attorney general, vigorously defended cases in which prosecutors were accused of fabricating testimony or withholding potentially exculpatory evidence—stacking the deck against the accused. | "My issue with [Harris] is the way she characterizes herself and her record. If she were just straightforward, it wouldn't be a problem."—Lara Bazelon…
(2020-12-01). What Are We Gonna Do Now to Save Our Democracy? counterpunch.org "Are you done with that dumpling?" — Words Trump is said to have whispered in Obama's ear about Angela Merkel, during the presidential transition period of 2016 Now that polls have closed and the votes have been counted and the only thing left to do is wait for Donald J. Trump to concede defeat, and
(2020-12-01). Don't be fooled: Trump's conspiracy theories won't discourage Georgia Republicans. salon.com Republican voters aren't fooled by Trump's lies about "rigged" elections — they think they're in on the con…
(2020-12-01). UK government asks Netflix to make it clear "The Crown" is fictional. salon.com Cultural Secretary Oliver Dowden suggests a disclaimer to quell concerns around Season 4's portrayal of events…
(2020-12-01). Iranian envoy submits credentials to FM of Congo. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Dec. 01 (MNA) — The new Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran presented a copy of his credentials to the Foreign Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Tuesday.
(2020-12-01). Friday 12/4: Teachers on Strike Are Still Teaching: Union Power & the Fight for Democracy. indybay.org Online event…
(2020-11-30). Biden's Promise: America is Back(wards). counterpunch.org With President Donald Trump all but conceding to the transition team that will take over after January next year, interest now shifts to President-elect Joe Biden's choices for cabinet. On the national security front, the imperial-military lobby will have reasons to be satisfied. If Trump promised to rein in, if not put the brakes on
(2020-11-30). Hostilities Won't Stop Venezuela's Upcoming Elections. telesurenglish.net The international campaign of discredit against the Venezuelan electoral process, encouraged by the U.S. and the European Union (EU), gains strength one week ahead of the legislative elections scheduled for December 6. | RELATED: | "Chavism won't guarantee biosecurity measures," "The voting machines will fail," "Maduro seeks to settle his government after the parliamentary elections," are some headlines shown by the Miami-Bogota-Ma…
(2020-11-30). Trump Races to Kill Lisa Montgomery In First Federal Execution of a Woman in Almost 70 Years. 18.224.45.15 
We look at one of the most shocking cases in the slew of federal executions the Trump administration has scheduled in its final months: Lisa Montgomery, who was convicted in 2007 for a gruesome murder of a pregnant woman, is set be the first woman to be executed by the federal government in 70 years if her January 12 execution goes forward. Advocates say Montgomery suffers from mental illnesses caused by a life of abuse and sexual assault, and that she deserves clemency. "She is profoundly mentally ill," Cornell law professor Sandra Babcock says. "Why the rush to execute someone like Lisa Montgomery among all of…
(2020-11-30). A Trap? Why Assassination of Top Iranian Nuclear Scientist Could Tie Biden's Hands in Future Talks. democracynow.org 
Iran's top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated Friday while driving on a highway outside Tehran. Iran accuses Israel of orchestrating the killing, which is the latest in a string of assassinations targeting scientists involved with Iran's nuclear program. Between 2010 and 2012, four Iranian nuclear scientists were assassinated, and analysts say Fakhrizadeh's death was designed to make it harder for President-elect Joe Biden to rejoin the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran when he takes office. Iran has long maintained its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. "Israel has always denied…
(2020-11-30). Firing Squads, Poison Gas, Electric Chair: Trump Moves to Expand Ways to Kill Prisoners. 18.224.45.15 
Sister Helen Prejean, one of the world's best known anti-death-penalty activists, says the spate of federal executions carried out by the Trump administration reflect a "fundamental flaw" in the law, which does not set limits on use of the death penalty. "When you give absolute power over life and death to government officials, they can really do what they want," she says.
(2020-11-30). 'Another World Is Possible': Ocasio-Cortez Uses Video Gaming Platform to Raise $200,000 for Fight Against Hunger, Evictions. commondreams.org The congresswoman was joined by Canadian progressive leader Jagmeet Singh, who spoke about bold, far-reaching policies in Canada. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-1282573903.png …
(2020-11-30). Cashing in on coronavirus? Georgia Sen. Perdue's stock trades raise suspicions. peoplesworld.org 
WASHINGTON (AP)—As the ravages of the novel coronavirus forced millions of people out of work, shuttered businesses, and shrank the value of retirement accounts, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged to a three-year low. But for Sen. David Perdue, a Georgia Republican, the crisis last March signaled something else: a stock buying opportunity. And for the second …
(2020-11-30). Who Needs Zombies When We Have Republicans? counterpunch.org 
The 2017 film Bushwick begins like a lot of zombie flicks. An unsuspecting couple is walking through a subway station in the working-class neighborhood of Bushwick in Brooklyn. The station is eerily empty. They hear gunfire outside. The boyfriend goes out to investigate, and you know from the conventions of a zombie film that this
(2020-11-30). Flight From Reality: Airlines Demanding 'Vaccine Passports' Signals the Death Knell of Democracy. strategic-culture.org 
Dozens of airlines are pushing for a system that proves passengers have "complied with health requirements," whether in the form of a test or a future vaccine. And with passengers weary of lockdowns, they just may get their draconian wish. But this is just a sampling of horrors to come as the global elite enact their 'great reset.' | Soon, international travelers may be required to carry an additional passport aside from the one showing their nationality. The big three alliances, Oneworld, Star Alliance and SkyTeam, which represent 58 airlines, are looking to the so-called CommonPass digital health passport syste…
(2020-11-30). The Planet Cannot Heal Until We Rip the Mask Off the West's War Machine. counterpunch.org 
Making political sense of the world can be tricky unless one understands the role of the state in capitalist societies. The state is not primarily there to represent voters or uphold democratic rights and values; it is a vehicle for facilitating and legitimating the concentration of wealth and power into fewer and fewer hands.
(2020-11-30). Trump risks war again: Will the world condemn the murder of Iran's top nuclear scientist?>. salon.com Israel wouldn't have killed Mohsen Fakhrizadeh without Trump's say-so. Now Biden and the UN must lower tensions…
(2020-11-30). Calls for Diplomacy—Not War—as Scientist's Assassination, Trump Impede Biden's Path to Iran Engagement. commondreams.org www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/no-war_with_iran_0_0.jpg …
(2020-11-30). US Elections: Wisconsin's Ballots Recount Reaffirms Biden's Win. telesurenglish.net President-elect Joe Biden's win in Wisconsin was reaffirmed Sunday after two of the state's largest counties finished the recount of ballots with little change in the tally. | RELATED: | Biden leads over incumbent President Donald Trump in the key swing state grew by 87 votes, after Trump gained 45 votes in the Dane County recount and Biden got a 132-vote net gain in the Milwaukee county recount. The statewide…
(2020-11-30). Patriotic Millionaires Statement on Biden Economic Team, Treasury Secretary Announcement. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2020-11-30). Close the Big Tech Revolving Door, 32 Groups Tell Biden. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2020-11-30). 'A Moral and Legal Obligation': 80+ Groups Urge Biden to End US Complicity in Saudi-Led Assault on Yemen. commondreams.org "American involvement in this brutal catastrophe is shameful and must come to an end." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/payoff-alqaeda-ap_1.jpg …
(2020-11-30). Sierra Club Statement on President-Elect Biden's Nomination of Janet Yellen for Treasury Secretary. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2020-11-30). 'We Will Defend Democracy In Ecuador'. popularresistance.org In countries like Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, and Chile, popular movements have risen to express their discontent and demand a new economic model — only to be met with street violence, government repression, and coup d'etats. | In Ecuador, the rise of authoritarianism can be seen in the actions against the electoral opposition. In August — less than 24 hours after the National Electoral Council (CNE) officially called elections — the governing forces attempted illegally and unconstitutionally to eliminate the Movimiento Fuerza Compromiso Social, list 5 that had sheltered the political force of t…
(2020-11-30). Has consummate insider Tony Blinken, Biden's nominee for State, learned from his mistakes?>. salon.com Blinken backed every failed foreign intervention of the last 25 years. At least there's hope he has evolved…
(2020-11-30). New York City schools to reopen amid explosion of coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, deaths. wsws.org Mayor Bill de Blasio's announcement is a warning to the working class in the United States and internationally that even as numerous coronavirus vaccines are nearing completion, workers and youth will continue to be sent into workplaces and schools to needlessly get sick and die.
(2020-11-30). Biden's win threatens Macron's project of more independence. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Nov. 30 (MNA) — France is going to have a harder time selling "strategic autonomy" without the foil of the Trump administration to drive it.
(2020-11-30). The Assassination of Iranian Nuclear Scientist. Setting the Stage for War? globalresearch.ca Ryan Costello, Policy Director of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), issued the following statement on reports of the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who led Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program until it was shelved in …
(2020-11-30). Over 80 Organizations Urge Biden to Prioritize Ending U.S. Involvement in Yemen War. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2020-11-30). New Study Highlights Alleged Accounting Error Regarding COVID Deaths. globalresearch.ca At the time of this writing, the United States currently maintains the
(2020-11-30). Israel's Gift to Joe Biden, 52 Days Before He Even Takes Office: War with Iran. globalresearch.ca The assassination of Tehran's top nuclear scientist is a ploy by Israel to compel the likely US president-elect to reject diplomacy and choose military action to deal with Iran's nuclear ambition. Which option will he choose? | Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was the …
(2020-11-29). NPR's Shameful Comparison of Stacey Abrams to Donald Trump. scheerpost.com TED Conference / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0] By Ari Paul / FAIR It's very likely that Stacey Abrams is not governor of Georgia today because in 2018, she and thousands of the state's voters were victims of voter suppression that propelled then—Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp into the governor's office. She wasn't quiet about this, not just because the shenanigans probably cost her the election… |
(2020-11-29). On Contact: Fascism — America's DNA. popularresistance.org On the show this week, Chris Hedges talks to Gabriel Rockhill about the undercurrents of fascism in America's DNA, and the US role in internationalizing fascism after World War II through clandestine activities such Operation Paperclip and Operation Gladio. | Rockhill is a Franco-American philosopher and the founding Director of the Critical Theory Workshop and Professor of Philosophy at Villanova University. His books include Counter-History of the Present: Untimely Interrogations into Globalization, Technology, Democracy, Interventions in Contemporary Thought: History, Politics, Aesthetics, Radical History …
(2020-11-29). The Planet Cannot Begin to Heal Until We Rip the Mask off the West's War Machine. dissidentvoice.org 
Making political sense of the world can be tricky unless one understands the role of the state in capitalist societies. The state is not primarily there to represent voters or uphold democratic rights and values; it is a vehicle for facilitating and legitimating the concentration of wealth and power into fewer and fewer hands. In …
(2020-11-29). Protesters Descend On Garcetti's House For 6th Consecutive Day. popularresistance.org Los Angeles, CA – A sixth day of demonstrations outside Mayor Eric Garcetti's official residence unfolded Sunday in an attempt to persuade President-elect Joe Biden not to appoint Garcetti to his cabinet. | Tabatha Jones Jolivet, a spokeswoman for BLM-LA, said Garcetti "has failed the people of Los Angeles in an unending number of ways — from criminalizing folks for being houseless, to refusing to stand up for people who are killed by his police force." | "We refuse to be quiet as President-elect Biden considers him for a cabinet post where his reach will extend to setting national policy," she said.
(2020-11-29). Congress can wait: How Biden can reshape our future with executive action. salon.com Congressional deadlock doesn't have to mean total paralysis. Biden can change America without passing new laws…
(2020-11-29). New York Public Schools to Gradually Reopen Starting December 7. sputniknews.com WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Public schools in NYC will resume in-person classes starting early December, New York City (NYC) Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced.
(2020-11-28). "Superheroes" and "Nice" guys: Coverage of Biden's hawkish cabinet picks is predictably lacking. mronline.org 
Just as they failed to hold power to account in the run-up to the disastrous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, corporate media is refusing to ask the hard questions about Biden's hawkish cabinet picks.
(2020-11-28). Creating American Carnage. thenation.com 
Dario Castillejos, Liza Donnelly, Felipe Galindo, Peter Kuper Our Golfer-in-Chief's parting shots at democracy.
(2020-11-28). Martyr Fakhrizadeh expose false supporters of human rights. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Nov. 28 (MNA) — IRGC Quds Force Commander said that Martyr Fakhrizadeh exposed the false supporters of human rights, democracy, and freedom.
(2020-11-28). [Correspondence] Ruxolitinib cream for the treatment of vitiligo — Authors' reply. thelancet.com We thank Shelley Uppal and colleagues for their comments on the randomised phase 2 trial of ruxolitinib cream for the treatment of vitiligo,1 in which concerns over the generalisability of the study population were raised. As a phase 2 study, the goal was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of different concentrations and dosing regimens of ruxolitinib cream in patients with non-segmental vitiligo before progressing to phase 3 studies, in which generalisability would be assessed. As such, our study1 does not state that ruxolitinib cream is a safe and effective treatment for vitiligo or conclude that the study's f…
(2020-11-28). Biden Should Call for Emergency G20 Leaders Meeting, Says Religious Development Group. indybay.org A religious development group urges President-elect Biden to convene an emergency G20 meeting upon inauguration into the high office.
(2020-11-28). The Revolving Door: Biden's National Security Nominees Want Back In After Cashing Out Of Government Service. commondreams.org Top Biden advisers Tony Blinken, Michele Flournoy, and Lloyd Austin face new scrutiny. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/flournoy-blinken.jpg …
