Voices, The Peoples News
January 31, 2023
Published by Jedi Selman Since March 2000 to Inform and Educate
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This daily Voices, The Peoples News is posted through the blog function of www.MPEN-Ohio.net
# Border / Immigration / Migrants
A Victory for Abolitionists: ICE-Run Immigration Prison Shuts Down Today: It took nearly a decade of exposing the patterns of abuse and neglect at the facility in Berks County, Pennsylvania. Berks is the fifth immigration prison contract to end under the Biden administration, signaling the growing consensus that ICE’s immigration detention system does not need to exist, and a movement of communities across the country is organizing to end it.
https://truthout.org/articles/a-victory-for-abolitionists-ice-run-immigration-prison-shuts-down-today/
# Covid / Pandemics / Biologicals
A Federal Judge has blocked California law that would punish doctors for providing treatment or advice that promotes COVID “misinformation.” Bill Gates made millions off the COVID vaccine, admitted that the vaccine is ineffective against preventing transmission, providing long-term protection, and aligning with rapidly developing variants. Several analysts and commentators were critical of Gates, not due to disagreement with the statements he made in Australia. They argued that he had previously heavily invested in mRNA vaccines at the same time he encouraged a global COVID-19 vaccination campaign and supported mandatory vaccination.
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/bill-gates-profits-biontech-effectiveness-covid-vaccines/
The BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 reprograms both adaptive and innate immune responses
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.03.21256520v1
We are overcounting covid deaths and hospitalizations. That’s a problem: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States is experiencing around 400 covid deaths every day. At that rate, there would be nearly 150,000 deaths a year. But are these Americans dying from covid or with covid? Infectious-disease physician Shira Doron said, the proportion of those hospitalized because of covid were as low as 10 percent of the total number reported.
https://resiliencesystem.org/opinion-we-are-overcounting-covid-deaths-and-hospitalizations-s-problem
COVID-19 Drugmakers Pressured Twitter to Censor Activists Pushing for Generic Vaccine: BIO, which is financed by companies such as Moderna and Pfizer, provided Stronger with $1,275,000 in funding for the effort, which included tools for the public to flag content on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for moderation.
https://theintercept.com/2023/01/16/twitter-covid-vaccine-pharma/
# Economy / Finance / Trade / Banks
Crypto Firm FTX’s Ownership of a U.S. Bank Raises Questions: “The fact that an offshore hedge fund that was basically a crypto firm was buying a stake in a tiny bank for multiples of its stated book value should have raised massive red flags for the F.D.I.C., state regulators and the Federal Reserve,” said Camden Fine, a bank industry consultant.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/23/business/ftx-cryptocurrency-bank.html
The Debt Ceiling Benefits the Rich and Powerful, Says Economist Richard Wolff: In addition to reaping the benefits of tax cuts, corporations and the wealthy can become lenders to the U.S. government. House Republicans are pushing for major spending cuts as part of any deal to raise the federal government’s $31.4 trillion borrowing limit. “It’s 99% theatrics,” says Wolff, professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a visiting professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of The New School. Wolff also discusses the economic impact of the Ukraine war.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1017801560
# Education / Schools
DeSantis to Defund Diversity Efforts at Florida Universities: He claimed diversity efforts were “hostile to academic freedom” while simultaneously saying students will be forced to take courses on western civilization. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday that he plans to defund diversity, equity and inclusion programs in every Florida university, another move in his push to upend higher education in the state.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ron-desantis-defund-dei-florida-universities_n_63d9633de4b04d4d18e8b9c3
# Energy / Pipelines / Mining / Chemical
Revealed: how US transition to electric cars threatens environmental havoc: If Americans continue to depend on cars at the current rate, by 2050 the US alone would need triple the amount of lithium currently produced for the entire global market, which would have dire consequences for water and food supplies, biodiversity, and Indigenous rights. Lithium mining is, like all mining, environmentally and socially harmful. More than half the current lithium production, which is very water intensive, takes place in regions blighted by water shortages that are likely to get worse due to global heating.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/24/us-electric-vehicles-lithium-consequences-research
99% of U.S. Coal Plants Cost More to Run Than Replace With New Renewables, Study Finds: It would be cheaper to build new renewable energy capacity than it is to continue operating nearly every existing coal plant in the U.S., a new report from Energy Innovation finds. Of the country’s remaining 210 coal-fired power plants, more than 99% cost more to run than it would cost to replace them with new renewable energy, up from 62% in 2019.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/30/us-coal-more-expensive-than-renewable-energy-study
# Energy / Pipelines / Mining / Global
BP Says Ukraine War and IRA Could Spur Energy Transition: When Russia’s invasion of Ukraine led to gas shortages and soaring prices, it was used by both governments and fossil fuel companies to justify more oil, gas and coal development. However, one oil major predicts the longer-term consequence of the invasion will be to speed the transition to renewable energy. “The increased focus on energy security as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war has the potential to accelerate the energy transition as countries seek to increase access to domestically produced energy, much of which is likely to come from renewables and other non-fossil fuels.”
https://www.ecowatch.com/bp-ukraine-war-energy-transition.html
# Environment / Climate / Interior
History of DDT ocean dumping off L.A. coast worse than expected: After exhaustive historical investigations into the barrels of DDT waste reportedly dumped decades ago near Catalina Island, federal regulators concluded the toxic pollution in the deep ocean could be worse and more sweeping than what scientists anticipated. Officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency determined that acid waste from the nation’s largest manufacturer of DDT, a pesticide so powerful it poisoned birds and fish, had not been contained in hundreds of thousands of sealed barrels
https://phys.org/news/2022-08-history-ddt-ocean-dumping-la.html
# Food / Farming / GMOs / Chemicals / Global
Why leftist GMO rejectionists should take notice of Cuba’s emergence as biomedicine and ag-biotech innovator.
This past Christmas was not the best of times for Cubans. It was difficult to find food such as chicken, meat, milk and eggs and other basic supplies in state stores. This long-standing shortage has worsened in recent years, exacerbated by the COVID-19 health crisis and disruptions in the global food economy caused by the war in Ukraine
https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2023/01/31/viewpoint-why-leftist-gmo-rejectionists-should-take-notice-of-cubas-emergence-as-biomedicine-and-ag-biotech-innovator/
# General News
The Medics Are Also to Blame for Tyre Nichols’ Death: As a former paramedic of 25 years, an EMS educator and author, and a former law enforcement officer, I see these cases through a different lens than most. When looking at these videos, as difficult as it is, I try to look past the violence and assess the actions of the first responders that did not intercede to prevent the act from occurring. The case of Tyre Nichols is rife with instances of both EMS and police failing to attempt to save the dying man’s life. The video shows several figures off to the side for long stretches, not actively engaging, simply watching, meandering and occasionally talking with the victim who is clearly in distress.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/01/30/prosecute-medics-tyre-nichols-00080213
Two emergency medical workers who treated Tyre Nichols and a fire truck driver on the scene have been fired for violating their department’s policies. The response by EMTs at the scene and the apparent lack of urgency with which they treated Nichols have prompted an investigation by the city fire department.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/clarissajanlim/tyre-nichols-emt-fire-department
# Gov / Politics / Global
Ukraine Had Lost the War Long Before it Began: From one week to the next, Ukraine was without a Navy and without an Air Force, destroyed at the outset in late February, early March 2022.
https://www.veteranstoday.com/2023/01/30/ukraine-had-lost-the-war-long-before-it-began/?mc_cid=b55eef1915&mc_eid=3f7488d454
War against Ukraine has left Russia isolated and struggling, with more tumult ahead: At the time, Putin insisted his forces were embarking on a “special military operation,” a term suggesting a limited campaign that would be over in a matter of weeks. The reality has been far different.
https://www.npr.org/2022/12/31/1145981036/war-against-ukraine-has-left-russia-isolated-and-struggling-with-more-tumult-ahe
# Law Enforcement
The Year Just Started and Cops Have Already Killed At Least 7 Unarmed People: Fatal Police Shootings Of Unarmed Black People Reveal Troubling Patterns. The deadly shootings of unarmed Black men and women by police officers in the U.S. have increasingly garnered worldwide attention over the last few years. Tens of thousands of people across the country have taken to the streets to protest police brutality of Blacks by mostly white officers.
https://www.npr.org/2021/01/25/956177021/fatal-police-shootings-of-unarmed-black-people-reveal-troubling-patterns
Family of Double Amputee Killed by Police Demand Answers: “He’s out of his wheelchair, he’s amputated in both legs at the knee, and he’s moving away from the officers,” a community activist said.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/family-of-anthony-lowe-double-amputee-killed-by-huntington-park-police-demand-answers
# LGBTQ / Gender
Florida Megachurch Moves to Expel LGBTQ Members: Jacksonville First Baptist Church is requiring members to sign an anti-LGBTQ pledge, vowing adherence to “biblical sexuality.” Megachurch forces all members to sign statement opposing LGBTQ+ rights. The church’s senior pastor used anti-LGBTQ+ disinformation to explain why all church members must sign or resign.
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/01/megachurch-forces-all-members-to-sign-statement-opposing-lgbtq-rights/
# Medical / Health
Government Lets Health Plans That Ripped Off Medicare Keep the Money: Medicare Advantage plans for seniors dodged a major financial bullet Monday as government officials gave them a reprieve for returning hundreds of millions of dollars or more in government overpayments, some dating back a decade or more. The health insurance industry had long feared the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services would demand repayment of billions of dollars in overcharges the popular health plans received as far back as 2011.
https://khn.org/news/article/cms-audits-medicare-advantage-plans-can-keep-hundreds-of-millions-in-federal-overpayments-maybe-more/
# Technology
Big Tech is firing employees by the thousands. Why? And how worried should we be? In the last year, more than 70,000 people globally have been laid off by Big Tech companies, and that doesn’t count the downstream effect of contractors (and other organisations) losing business as budgets tighten. What exactly led to this massive shakeout? And what does it mean for the industry, and you?
https://theconversation.com/big-tech-is-firing-employees-by-the-thousands-why-and-how-worried-should-we-be-198418
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