December 1, 2021

Global Pandemic Will Rage Until WTO Approves Vaccine Patent Waiver (Stiglitz- Wallach)

The WTO must not postpone this decision. It needs to call an online meeting of its General Council and adopt the waiver this week.

Joseph Stiglitz, Lori Wallach
December 1, 2021 by CNN


If international organizations are subject to karma, last week's abrupt postponement of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference, the body's first major decision-making gathering in four years, was fated to be. News of the emergence of Omicron, the latest coronavirus variant, not only caused the meeting to be delayed but it also shined a light on how the international community has failed to get the virus under control.


Over the past two years, the global scientific community has figured out the pathogen that causes Covid-19 and developed vaccines and antivirals to fight the virus. Rapid production has meant that everyone in wealthy countries who wanted a vaccine has gotten one. But the market, on its own, has failed to provide enough for the rest of the world.

Since October 2020, a large number of WTO member countries have sought a temporary waiver of the organization's expansive intellectual property restrictions, which limit the production of vaccines, treatments and diagnostic tests to certain pharmaceutical companies. But a few WTO members have blocked this initiative, which is needed to ensure sufficient supply of Covid-19 medicines to inoculate the world and end the variant cycle that otherwise will indefinitely prolong the pandemic.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021/12/01/global-pandemic-will-rage-until-wto-approves-vaccine-patent-waiver


( There is no rational argument against what they present here....none. )

November 29, 2021

BREAKING: 2.5 million nurses from 28 countries have filed for a UN investigation of human rights

https://twitter.com/ProgIntl/status/1465202919687348227











( A must. )

November 29, 2021

David Dayen@ddayen: Why workers are quitting their jobs, after the trauma of the pandemic

https://twitter.com/ddayen/status/1465322403014217735





Excerpt: She started as a bather, and showed enough promise to be invited to the company’s dog grooming academy, where they teach how to cut hair. “I knew it was what I wanted to do with my life,” Caroline said. “I was really passionate about animals and I loved grooming.”

There was only one problem: PetSmart. Groomers were pressured to complete as many dogs as possible, through a constant whirlwind of commotion and barking and often verbal abuse and harassment from customers. Without enough staff available, Caroline sometimes worked seven days in a row. https://prospect.org/labor/great-escape-why-workers-quitting-pandemic-trauma/

November 22, 2021

I know how lobbyists make sure Americans don't get dental care-I was one of them

By
Wendell Potter

November 19, 2021 6:47 AM EST


Many seniors cross the border to Los Algodones, Mexico, to get the dental care they can't afford in the U.S.Guillwemo Arias—Getty Images

excerpt: A recent Morning Consult poll found that the number one thing Americans say they want out of the reconciliation bill is Medicare dental coverage. That’s no surprise when you consider that millions of seniors lack dental coverage. Many suffer quietly with often excruciating pain caused by untreated–and often lethal–oral health disease.

The main reason Medicare hasn’t covered dental care since its inception in 1965 (except when oral health problems become so severe they require hospitalization) is that organized dentistry staunchly opposed it.

https://fortune.com/2021/11/19/congress-lobbying-americans-dental-care-biden-democrats-medicare-build-back-better/

( The fight continues. )

November 16, 2021

State legislation tracker: Major Developments in Sexual & Reproductive Health

Posting a resource for anyone interested.

By the end of October, eight state legislatures (IN, MA, MI, NJ, NC, OH, PA and WI) and the District of Columbia were in their regular sessions. Forty-two legislatures (AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NM, NY, ND, OK, OR, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV and WY) had adjourned their regular sessions.

https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy

The Guttmacher Institute is a pro-choice[1][2] research organization started in 1968 that works to study, educate, and advance sexual and reproductive health and rights.[3][4] The organization works mainly in the United States but also focuses on developing countries.[4] The Guttmacher Institute uses studies to help support policy making and program reform.[4] The Institute is named after obstetrician-gynocologist and former president of Planned Parenthood Alan F. Guttmacher.[5] The Guttmacher Institute has many sources of funding nationally and internationally.[4] One of the Institute's biggest projects is keeping a running list of the reproductive health laws and policies throughout the United States.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guttmacher_Institute

November 12, 2021

Oath Keepers in the State House: How a Militia Movement Took Root in the Republican Mainstream

A membership roster for the Oath Keepers, a violent extremist group whose followers have been charged in the Jan. 6 insurrection, includes state lawmakers, congressional candidates, and local government and GOP officials.

by Isaac Arnsdorf


Oct. 20, 3 p.m. EDT


excerpt:

ProPublica identified Clampitt and 47 more state and local government officials on the list, all Republicans: 10 sitting state lawmakers; two former state representatives; one current state assembly candidate; a state legislative aide; a city council assistant; county commissioners in Indiana, Arizona and North Carolina; two town aldermen; sheriffs or constables in Montana, Texas and Kentucky; state investigators in Texas and Louisiana; and a New Jersey town’s public works director.

ProPublica’s analysis also found more than 400 people who signed up for membership or newsletters using government, military or political campaign email addresses, including candidates for Congress and sheriff, a retired assistant school superintendent in Alabama, and an award-winning elementary school teacher in California.

https://www.propublica.org/article/oath-keepers-in-the-state-house-how-a-militia-movement-took-root-in-the-republican-mainstream?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter#1136356


( Sometimes there are no words to describe the depth of dysfunction in the Republican Party. )