(2022-01-02). Encampment Calls on Biden to 'Declare a Climate Emergency'. zcomm.org "When it's 'code red' you do things you've never done before," said one member of the group. "I and others here are doing that."
(2022-01-02). 2021 Latin America and the Caribbean in Review: The Pink Tide Rises Again. orinocotribune.com By Roger D. Harris — Dec 30, 2021 | US policy towards Latin America and the Caribbean continued in a seamless transition from Trump to Biden, but the terrain over which it operated shifted left. The balance between the US drive to
(2022-01-02). Welcome 2022! President Maduro Highlights his Administration's Achieved Goals. orinocotribune.com 
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro issued a message to welcome in the new year 2022. In his message, the president highlighted the goals that had been achieved in the previous year 2021 and referred to it as a mystical cycle for Venezuela in which the Carabobo Bicentennial was celebrated. | Maduro pointed out that 2021 was characterized by its renewal of hope and by the strength of the people's courage in the midst of the attacks perpetrated by different sectors of the national and international right-wing. | "We will have to remember 2021 as being the year of our democratic institutions; of the consolidation of…
(2022-01-01). Pentagon Spending on Military Contractors May Reach $407 Billion in 2022. truthout.org 
President Joe Biden signed a record-shattering military budget earlier this week, and a new Stephen Semler, co-found…
(2022-01-01). Shuffled cards: Berlin Bulletin No. 197, December 30, 2021. mronline.org 
After the German elections on September 26th it took, as usual, weeks and weeks for the three coalition parties to agree on one program, full of compromises, pledges and promises (some of which may even been be kept) and to resolve quarrels over who gets which cabinet seat.
(2022-01-01). [Comment] Offline: The origin story—towards a final resolution? thelancet.com WHO has been a particular casualty in the dispute about the origins of SARS-CoV-2. Former US President Donald Trump's verbal attacks and his decision to defund the agency drew blood in Geneva—and the wounds are still visible. The allegation that WHO shared responsibility for the pandemic by adopting a policy of appeasement towards China has proven impossible to refute. As a member-state organisation, WHO's staff are constitutionally bound to heed the instructions of the governments they serve. Only former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland had the courage to defy countries when she was WHO Direc…
(2022-01-01). [Correspondence] Brazilian science under continuous attack. thelancet.com Despite the resistance of Brazilian scientists, science in Brazil has been undermined by measures implemented by the federal government in the past 3 years, such as increasing budget cuts, attacks on the autonomy of universities, and a general policy of denial of science. A recent budget cut of US$110 million to the Ministry of Science Technology and Innovations budget, in addition to the withholding of $490 million from the National Scientific and Technological Development Fund, not only represents an enormous impediment to conducting research at universities and research institutes, but also jeopardises the fut…
(2022-01-01). Germany One Step Closer To Nuclear-Free Future. popularresistance.org Green groups on Friday celebrated as Germany prepared to shut down three of its six remaining nuclear power plants, part of that country's ambitious goal of transitioning to mostly renewable energy by the end of the decade. | The nuclear phaseout—which was proposed by the center-left government of former Chancellor Gerhard Schrà∂der at the turn of the century and accelerated under former Chancellor Angela Merkel following the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan—is a key component of a plan by Germany's new Social Democrat, Green, and Free Democrat governing coalition to produce 80% of the country's…
(2022-01-01). The Insufferable Hypocrisy of Western Governments Hell-bent on Destroying Julian Assange. dissidentvoice.org Much of the independent media have provided coverage of the horrendous plight suffered by WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange. Some corporate media have even pointed out how five purported democracies conspired to entrap Julian Assange and, with the acquiescence of most of the western monopoly media, are complicit in the slow-motion assassination of the brave journalist.
(2022-01-01). [Correspondence] COVID-19 ARDS: getting ventilation right. thelancet.com We read with special interest the Article by Ryan Barbaro and colleagues,1 describing the evolving outcomes of patients with COVID-19 who required extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) during 2020. We were sad to corroborate the same increased mortality we had observed in our own patients. However, we wish to clarify two key aspects that we hope will supplement the conclusions of this important Article.
(2022-01-01). [Correspondence] COVID-19 ARDS: getting ventilation right — Authors' reply. thelancet.com We thank Xosé Pérez-Fernández and colleagues for their thoughtful Correspondence regarding our study of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in COVID-19.1 We agree that our study does not provide evidence that forms of non-invasive ventilation (NIV), such as high-flow nasal cannula and mask or helmet ventilation, might be deleterious compared with other strategies. Our observational study was not designed to make causal inferences regarding the potential superiority of ECMO or any pre-ECMO support strategy.