Daily Archives: March 4, 2021

2021-03-04: News Headlines

Bruce Neuburger (2021-03-04). U.S. Agricultural System's Deadly Apartheid. counterpunch.org The NY Times of March 1, 2021 cited some chilling facts about agricultural workers and Covid 19: "In some areas, up to 40 percent of the workers tested for the virus had positive results. The Rev. Francisco Gómez at Our Lady of Soledad church in Coachella said his parish had been averaging 10 burials a

Staff (2021-03-04). Vaccine Apartheid: Marc Lamont Hill, Mitchell Plitnick on Israel's "Indifference to Palestinian Health" democracynow.org Israel has had the fastest vaccination rollout in the entire world, with 40% of Israelis already fully vaccinated against COVID-19, but Palestinians in the Occupied Territories have received almost no doses — a situation critics call "vaccine apartheid." By one count, just 34,000 vaccine doses have been administered to Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, which has a population of over 4.5 million. "What we're seeing right now is a gross injustice," says Marc Lamont Hill, author and professor of media studies and urban education at Temple University. We also speak with Mitchell Plitnick, political anal…

Shatha Hammad (2021-03-04). Covid-19: Palestinian Authority criticised for VIP vaccine distribution. middleeasteye.net Covid-19: Palestinian Authority criticised for VIP vaccine distribution | A significant proportion of the first batch of vaccines have gone to PA government figures and their allies
| Thu, 03/04/2021 – 14: 45 | An UNRWA employee prepares a shot of the Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine for medical staff at UNRWA's al-Sheikh Redwan clinic in Gaza City, on 25 February 2021 (AFP) | Political and security…

Prof. Esther Jones (2021-03-04). Many Black Americans Aren't Rushing to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine — A Long History of Medical Abuse Suggests Why. globalresearch.ca Black Americans have been the

Brian Shilhavy (2021-03-04). Death Rates Skyrocket in Israel Following Pfizer Experimental COVID "Vaccines" globalresearch.ca We have previously reported how Israel rapidly vaccinated the highest percentage …

Staff (2021-03-04). Headlines for March 4, 2021. democracynow.org House Passes Landmark Voting Rights and Police Reform Bills , House Cancels Thursday Session as Capitol Police Warn of Plot to Attack Congress, D.C. National Guard Chief Says Pentagon Took 3+ Hours to Approve Reinforcements During Capitol Riot, Biden Agrees to Limit Eligibility for Stimulus Checks, At Least 38 Killed in Burma in Deadliest Day of Anti-Coup Protests, White House Does Not Rule Out More Military Strikes After Rocket Attack in Iraq, Pope Francis Moves Ahead with Iraq Trip Despite Coronavirus Concerns, Brazil COVID Deaths Spike; More COVAX Vaccines Delivered to African Nations, Biden Condemns Texas, Mi…

David Nolan (2021-03-04). Do Not Rollout COVID-19 Vaccine Passports. globalresearch.ca We want the Government to commit to not rolling out any …

Online News Editor (2021-03-04). Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina receives Covid vaccine. laprensalatina.com Dhaka, Mar 4 (efe-epa).-Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday became the latest world leader to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, her office informed. Hasina's deputy press secretary Hasan Jahid Tusher confirmed that the prime minister had received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine nearly a month after the country started its mass vaccination campaign against …

Online News Editor (2021-03-04). EU medicines agency begins 'rolling review' of Russia's Sputnik V Covid shot. laprensalatina.com Amsterdam, Mar 4 (efe-epa).- The European Medicines Agency on Thursday said it had started a rolling review of Russia's Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine. The fast-tracked process of reviewing clinical trial data could lead to the vaccine's approval for use in the European Union, although the EMA's human medicines committee did not specify when it would …

Online News Editor (2021-03-04). WHO warns of rise in cases in Europe. laprensalatina.com Copenhagen, Mar 4 (efe-epa).- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday warned of a rise in Covid-19 infections in Europe after six consecutive weeks of declines. At a press conference, the director of WHO-Europe, Hans Kluge, said measures to control the contagion needed to be boosted, with special attention to the most contagious new variants. …

Staff (2021-03-04). COVID Deaths Soar in Brazil as Bolsonaro Blasts Lockdowns. Experts Warn It Will "Get Worse." democracynow.org Brazil's COVID-19 death toll has now topped nearly 260,000, the world's second worst after the United States, as hospitals are overwhelmed with new cases. International concern is also growing about the P1 variant of the virus, which overwhelmed the Amazonian city of Manaus and caused its hospitals to run out of oxygen. Less than 4% of Brazil's population has been vaccinated. Marcia Castro, demography professor at Harvard University, says the crisis in Brazil is due to "a combination of inaction and also wrongdoing" by officials, including President Jair Bolsonaro, who has opposed lockdowns, masks and other publi…

Staff (2021-03-04). Mumia Abu-Jamal Tests Positive for COVID, Prompting Urgent Call to Release Elder Political Prisoners. democracynow.org Renowned political prisoner and journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal's lawyers confirmed Wednesday he has tested positive for COVID-19 and also has congestive heart disease. Abu-Jamal also suffers from the preexisting conditions of liver disease, which advocates say is directly related to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections' failure to treat his hepatitis C in a timely fashion. Mumia's doctor, Dr. Ricardo Alvarez, says the only appropriate treatment is freedom. Marc Lamont Hill, who co-authored a book with Abu-Jamal titled "The Classroom and the Cell: Conversations on Black Life in America," says this is an opportun…

news.un (2021-03-04). Mental health alert for 332 million children linked to COVID-19 lockdown policies: UNICEF. news.un.org The UN Children's Fund, UNICEF, says the mental health of millions of children worldwide has been put at risk, with at least one in seven forced to remain at home under nationwide public health orders — or recommendations — during the COVID-19 pandemic.

WSWS Repost (2021-03-04). US ruling class moves to remove remaining restrictions as pandemic continues to spread. indybay.org While the federal CDC has criticized Texas for ending all COVID-19 restrictions, the Biden administration policy of reopening all schools will have the same effect of spreading the pandemic.

yenisafak (2021-03-04). WHO hails women's role in fighting pandemic. yenisafak.com Speaking at a virtual news conference on the impact of COVID-19 on women in Africa ahead of International Women's Day celebrated on March 8 every year, Matshidiso Moeti said: "They [women] make up 70% of the global health workforce, and many women are on the frontlines, especially as nurses and community health workers."This year, the theme for International Women's Day, Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world, celebrates the efforts by women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future and recovery from the pandemic, highlighting the gaps that remain, according to UN Women…

_____ (2021-03-04). We Should Be Taxing The Rich, Not The Unemployed. popularresistance.org With tax season well underway, many Americans who lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic and found some relief in supercharged unemployment benefits last year are discovering that they now owe the federal government hundreds—even thousands—of dollars in surprise payments, an economic nightmare for low-income people and a looming political catastrophe for the party currently in power. | Because unemployment benefits in the United States are classified as taxable income, a potentially significant portion of the estimated 40 million Americans who received unemployment insurance (UI) in 2020 "wil…

Victor Grossman (2021-03-04). Germany's Linke (the Left Party) comes out of its convention united. peoplesworld.org BERLIN — Things worked out quite differently than many in the media here said they would at the congress of the LINKE, the country's left-wing party. The pandemic had forced postponements from June 2020 to October 2020 and from last October to last weekend, with most of the 580 delegates at home in front of …

Mike Walter (2021-03-04). The Heat: Cautious optimism in U.S. with vaccine push. america.cgtn.com U.S. President Joe Biden announces a breakthrough in vaccine availability amid concerns that some states may be lifting restrictions too soon.

Hugo Talks (2021-03-04). Video: The Dark Future of Health Passports. globalresearch.ca "We know they really want you to get a vaccine passport. …

Robert F. Kennedy Jr (2021-03-04). Gates' Globalist Vaccine Agenda: A Win-Win for Pharma and Mandatory Vaccination. globalresearch.ca First posted on GR on April 13, 2020 | Vaccines, for Bill …

teleSUR (2021-03-04). Cuba Starts Soberana 02 Vaccine's Phase III of Clinical Trial. telesurenglish.net Cuba's Center for State Control of Medicines, Equipment, and Medical Devices (CECMED) on Tuesday allowed Soberana 02 vaccine to start Phase III clinical trials. | RELATED: | The immunizer developed by the Finlay Vaccine Institute "has shown an adequate safety profile, and it has passed all the review done by the regulatory entity during Phase I and II of studies," CECMED President Olga Jacobo said. | To allow the vaccine's mass use in a new ph…

Dean Baker (2021-03-04). The New York Times Has not Heard of China's (or Russia's) Vaccines. cepr.net I guess it is hard to get news at the world's leading newspapers, but this lengthy podcast on Bill Gates and his efforts to make vaccines available to the developing world never once mentioned the vaccines developed by China or Russia. This is more than a bit incredible because at this point, far more of …

Eds. (2021-03-04). Cornel West: Palestine is a "taboo issue among certain circles in high places" mronline.org Activist and scholar says he is being denied tenure at Harvard University because of his views on Israeli occupation.

Staff (2021-03-04). Marc Lamont Hill & Mitchell Plitnick on ICC Probe & the "Palestine Exception" in Progressive Politics. democracynow.org Israel and the United States blasted the International Criminal Court's decision to open a probe into Israeli war crimes in the Palestinian territories, as well as crimes committed by Palestinian militant groups. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted that the Biden administration "firmly opposes" an investigation. Mitchell Plitnick and Marc Lamont Hill, co-authors of "Except for Palestine," say it's an illustration of the "Palestine exception" that makes even supposedly progressive people unwilling to criticize Israel's human rights abuses and its ongoing occupation of Palestinian territories. "We are at…

MEE, agencies (2021-03-04). Palestinian election: Israel 'intimidating Hamas supporters' to stop them running. middleeasteye.net Palestinian election: Israel 'intimidating Hamas supporters' to stop them running | Soldiers reportedly deliver Shin Bet message to Palestinian doorsteps, while others asked to report at stations for interrogation | Thu, 03/04/2021 – 16: 16 | An Israeli soldier gestures in front of a Palestinian man following a protest (AFP/file photo) | Israel's internal intelligence agency Shin Bet is in…

teleSUR Desk (2021-03-04). Ecuador's leftist candidate ratified as first round winner. mronline.org Authorities officially confirmed that Andres Arauz and the banker Guillermo Lasso will compete for the presidency in the second round to be held on April 11.

RT (2021-03-04). House CANCELS March 4 session after Capitol Police cites 'possible plot' by militia. rt.com The US House of Representatives won't be in session on Thursday, after Capitol Police, the FBI, and Homeland Security said extremists were discussing possible threats to Congress. The Senate is not changing its schedule, however. | House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) moved to Wednesday evening the vote on a police reform bill that was scheduled for Thursday. Multiple media outlets reported that the March 4 session of the lower chamber was canceled altogether. | Earlier in the day, US Capitol Police announced it would bolster its security profile due to "intelligence that shows a possible plot to breach t…

RT (2021-03-04). WATCH: White House abruptly cuts live feed after Biden says 'happy to take questions' at virtual event. rt.com US President Joe Biden said he would be "happy" to field live questions at the tail-end of a virtual event, but was swiftly cut off when the White House inexplicably dropped the video feed, leaving some viewers bewildered. | "I'd be happy to take questions if that's what I'm supposed to do, Nance. Whatever you want me to do," Biden said to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as the Democratic "Virtual Issues Conference" wrapped up on Wednesday night. But after a brief pause, the feed was brusquely taken offline. | The White House abruptly cuts the live video feed of a virtual event after President Biden said he was "ha…

Liberation Staff (2021-03-04). Texas winter storm crisis the fault of state leaders, big oil, protesters say. liberationnews.org Natural gas and fossil fuel executives, as well as officials in ERCOT and PUCT, should face criminal charges for their role in the deaths, injuries, and damages suffered during this crisis.

Liberation Staff-Seattle (2021-03-04). In Renton, WA, unions, community come out to support 'Bamazon' union drive. liberationnews.org Despite the scattered showers and mid-30 ∞s weather close to 300 people showed up to voice their support.

Rosalind English (2021-03-04). Doctors acted unlawfully in deciding on eligibility for drug — Court of Appeal. ukhumanrightsblog.com Basma (suing by her mother and litigation friend Sara Basma) v Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust & Anr [2021] EWCA Civ 278 Sophie Basma ("Sophie") is 10. She suffers from Type 3 Spinal Muscular Atrophy ("SMA"). SMA is a rare, genetic, neuromuscular disease which progressively leads to sufferers being unable to walk or sit …

The Conversation (2021-03-04). Pope's upcoming visit brings attention to the dwindling population of Christians in Iraq. juancole.com By Ramazan Kƒ±lƒ±nàß | — Pope Francis will arrive in Iraq on Friday in a first-ever papal visit to the country that is expected to raise awareness about the challenges facing Iraqi Christians — a majority of whom are Catholic. In the past two decades, the Christian population in Iraq has fallen by over 80%. …

David Rosen (2021-03-04). Electricity vs. Broadband: Does History Repeat Itself? counterpunch.org Americans take household electric for granted, but this was not always the case. Millions of U.S. households have access to electricity to power water heating, lighting, refrigeration, TV, telephone and other products. And yet, according to one estimate, about 15,000 families — 60,000 people — are not connected to the electric grid; many are located on Native American reservations. (In addition, about 18,000 families don't have running water in their house.) |

Brian Tokar (2021-03-04). 25 Years of GMOs, and Some New Insights from Argentina. counterpunch.org n the winter of 1996, Monsanto and a few other companies first began to sell genetically engineered seeds to commercial growers, and also mounted a massive public relations effort to convince people of their supposed benefits. They hyped their new GMOs as the answer to world hunger, a way to help troubled farmers stay on the land, and as a technology that would bring higher quality, more nutritious food to all. Skeptics in many countries responded swiftly: Greenpeace blockaded shipments and planted symbols in farmers' fields, while decentralized networks of activists organized Global Days of Action. Saboteurs in…

Alan Macleod (2021-03-04). Aurora Police Killed Without Consequence, Now Their Protestors Face 48 Years for "Kidnapping" Cops. mintpressnews.com The cops and the district attorneys want people to see what we are going through — the conditions of our arrests, our experiences in jail, and our legal battle — and to think that this is what you risk when you stand up against them. – Lillian House, Aurora Activist and Defendant…

Don Fitz (2021-03-04). From the Murder of Berta Cáceres to Dam Disaster in Uttarakhand. mronline.org March 2, 2021 was the five year anniversary of the murder of Berta Cáceres, who opposed the Agua Zarca dam in Honduras. That date was less than one month after the deaths of dozens of people from Tehri Dam disaster in Uttarakhand, India. The two stories together tell us far more about consequences of the …

teleSUR Desk (2021-03-04). Parliament rejects Moreno's privatization of Central Bank. mronline.org Parliament's Legislative Administration Council (CAL) reported that the project had 14 unconstitutional aspects. The bill presented 84 reforms to the Organic Monetary and Financial Code that would allow a $400 million loan from the International Monetary Fund.

George Wuerthner (2021-03-04). Fire Suppression Hyperbole. counterpunch.org In almost all media reports about the recent fire seasons, one of the chief explanations given for the larger blazes is "fire suppression" and "fuel build-up." We hear that 100 years of fire suppression has contributed to the "unnatural" accumulation of fuels and is one of the primary reasons for large fires. The solution, we

Jay August (2021-03-04). NYS politicians push bill to 'kill' rent cancellation movement, organizers fight back. liberationnews.org On Feb. 28, tenant organizers in New York City demonstrated outside the home of New York State Senator Brian Kavanaugh in Manhattan to protest his sponsorship of a bill which bails out landlords, not tenants.

IndustriALL (2021-03-04). Myanmar military coup leaders target trade unions for destruction. peoplesworld.org For weeks, hundreds of thousands of people have been participating in peaceful mass demonstrations across Myanmar in the wake of a coup led by the Army. As the peaceful civil disobedience movement continues to protest against the military takeover, authorities are resorting to violence and cracking down civilians—including trade unions and their leaders. Police have issued …

Geoff Beckman (2021-03-04). Biden, Team D and the Dimming Prospects of Getting Anything Meaningful Through the Senate. counterpunch.org It's kinda touching that Team D imagines it will get anything through the Senate with: 1. A nominal 50-50 split, 2. Joe Manchin and Kysten Sinema enjoying the power that having a line-item veto provides, 3. Que Mala Harris's reluctance to do anything she thinks might jeopardize her chances at the presidency, 4. Crazy Uncle

Phil Mattera (2021-03-04). The Decades-Long Struggle Over Big Corporations and Poverty Wages. counterpunch.org The Senate Parliamentarian has dealt a strong blow to the Fight for $15 movement by ruling that a federal minimum wage increase cannot be included in the stimulus bill. Senator Bernie Sanders is pushing back with an amendment to take tax deductions away from large, profitable corporations that do not pay at least $15 an

Beau Peters (2021-03-04). Creating a Safe Space at Work for Discussing Social Justice Topics. dissidentvoice.org Image Source: Pexels There's a lot going on in the world at the moment, which means there's a lot we need to talk about. It seems as though every day there is another incident that raises issues related to the socio-economic imbalances in our society, systemic racism, or the political decisions that shape our lives. …

Wayne Nealis (2021-03-04). Trial of Chauvin, George Floyd's murderer, pivotal to reforming racist policing. peoplesworld.org MINNEAPOLIS—The consensus among activists speaking at a recent press conference in Minneapolis is that it will take massive street protests to convict Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. Frank Chapman, a spokesperson for the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, which was founded in 1973, pointed to the national significance of the …

Alan MacLeod (2021-03-04). After years of propaganda, American views of Russia and China hit historic lows. mronline.org Both pro- and anti-war voices have stated that the U.S. is on the cusp of entering a second Cold War, and a new Gallup poll suggests that the groundwork for such a conflict has already been laid.

John Wojcik (2021-03-04). National Guard commander charges Pentagon delayed sending troops to Capitol Jan. 6. peoplesworld.org By the day, facts uncovered in the ongoing Senate hearings on the security failings connected to the Trumpite attack on the Capitol are raising concern that there may have been, at the least, advance knowledge and, possibly worse, collaboration involving officials on various levels. Testimony Wednesday added the Pentagon leadership to the list of top …

Thomas Knapp (2021-03-04). Biden's Foreign Policy: No Joy in Mudville. counterpunch.org Well, at least he hasn't started any NEW wars! | For four years, that was the excuse I got from anti-war Donald Trump supporters every time he escalated one of the several wars he inherited from George W. Bush and Barack Obama. I expect to start hearing it from anti-war Joseph Biden supporters soon.

Jarvis Tyner (2021-03-04). 'We're Not Going Back': New York celebrates Black History Month. peoplesworld.org NEW YORK—Last Sunday night after watching Trump's recycled demagogy at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), I thankfully had the uplifting experience of viewing the "We're Not Going Back" celebration of the African American people's long march to freedom. We're Not Going Back is an annual event initiated by the New York Bureau of People's …

RT (2021-03-04). Mississippi school asks students to 'pretend to be slaves' for class assignment, gets roasted for 'whitewashing' slavery. rt.com A middle school in Purvis, Mississippi is under fire after students were asked to pen a letter from the perspective of a plantation slave, with the assignment condemned as "hurtful" and "tone deaf" by local activists. | As part of a class project, eighth graders at Purvis Middle School were told to "pretend like you are a slave working on a Mississippi plantation" and to imagine their day-to-day lives, their journey to the United States and the type of labor they were forced to perform, among other things. But a photo of the assignment making the rounds on Twitter on Wednesday has stoked outrage among some res…

Rosalind English (2021-03-04). Doctors acted unlawfully in deciding on eligibility for drug — Court of Appeal. ukhumanrightsblog.com Basma (suing by her mother and litigation friend Sara Basma) v Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust & Anr [2021] EWCA Civ 278 Sophie Basma ("Sophie") is 10. She suffers from Type 3 Spinal Muscular Atrophy ("SMA"). SMA is a rare, genetic, neuromuscular disease which progressively leads to sufferers being unable to walk or sit …