Daily Archives: December 12, 2020

2020-12-12: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these ‘POSTEES’ on social media! (Copy the text of the postee below, then paste it on social media and the story images will also appear.)

The planning and politics of conversion: World War II lessons for a Green New Deal–Part 1
Martin Hart-Landsberg | mronline.org | 2020-12-12
This post highlights the successful government directed wartime reorientation of the U.S. economy from civilian to military production, an achievement that both demonstrates the feasibility of a rapid Green New Deal transformation of the U.S. economy and points to the kinds of organizational capacities we will need to develop.
mronline.org/2020/12/12/the-planning-and…

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Johnson and Macron governments step up collaboration in persecution of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers
wsws.org | 2020-12-12
These extremely vulnerable people are fleeing from the wars, fratricidal conflicts, and economic and ecological destruction created and exacerbated by the world’s imperialist powers, foremost in Europe by Britain and France.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/12/12/ukre…

Marxism vs the state
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-12-12
Karl Marx developed his theory of revolution by arguing against would-be progressives who looked to the capitalist state as a force for progress.
mronline.org/2020/12/12/marxism-vs-the-s…

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The Fight Against Line 5 Intensifies
Patrick Shea | progressive.org | 2020-12-12
Enbridge goes to court to challenge Michigan governor’s shutdown order.
progressive.org/dispatches/fight-against…

Resistance in the face of repression: stories from protesting farmers at Delhi’s border
Pavan Kulkarni | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-12-12
Hundreds of thousands of farmers have been protesting at the borders of Delhi for two weeks. On Sunday, we talked to some of them who described the mobilization leading up to this massive protest…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/12/12/resistanc…

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French journalists in forefront of upsurge against Global Security Bill
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-12-12
Pablo Aiquel of the French journalists’ union SNJ-CGT talks about the massive upsurge against the government’s Global Security Bill which gives greater powers to the police…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/12/12/french-jo…

Senators urge Army leadership to testify before Congress about Fort Hood firings
Andrew Emett | nationofchange.org | 2020-12-12
The U.S. Army failed Sergeant Elder Fernandes, Specialist Vanessa Guillen, and their families and they, like the families of all of the soldiers who have suffered at Fort Hood, deserve justice.”
nationofchange.org/2020/12/12/senators-u…

Biden solidifying a more aggressive neoliberal and militarist administration
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-12-12
From former war commanders and representatives of the military-industrial complex to Clinton loyalists to oil lobby-funded, the appointments made so far gives us very little change to be expected from the upcoming Biden administration.
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/12/12/biden-sol…

English schools could face legal action if they plan to shut early for Christmas
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-12-12
Schools in England planning to allow pupils to learn remotely in the run-up to Christmas could face legal action to force them to remain open.”Directions”: New powers introduced through the Coronavirus Act allow the government to issue “directions” to headteachers around education provision during the pandemic.But should schools fail to comply after being directed to remain open, education secretary Gavin Williamson could apply for a High Court injunction forcing them to do so.Education Secretary Gavin Williamson pictured with a riding whip (Stefan Rousseau/PA)It’s understood that directions under the act…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2020/12/12/english-…

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Foreign Minister Arreaza To US ‘Ambassador’
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-12-12
Venezuela scoffed at the presentation of credentials by the person in charge of the US “virtual embassy” in Colombia, pointing out that his office in Caracas awaits him. | James Story, assigned as the supposed US ambassador to Venezuela, delivered his credentials to the fugitive Venezuelan opposition politician Julio Borges, “envoy” of the self-proclaimed president of Venezuela, coup leader Juan Guaidó, on Monday in Bogotá, the Colombian capital, reflecting the White House’s commitment to the opposition and to regime change in Venezuela.
popularresistance.org/foreign-minister-a…

Now In Print And Available: ‘Capitalism On A Ventilator’
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-12-12
“Capitalism on a Ventilator: The Impact of COVID-19 in China & the U.S.” is a new anthology contrasting the effective Chinese response to COVID-19 with the disastrous response here in the U.S. It pushes back against the racist anti-China campaign in the media. | Due to the growing hostility of the U.S. establishment toward China, and the accompanying surge in anti-Asian racism, it was an enormous challenge to find printers and distributors for this book. | The chapters include articles by many published authors, including: Ajamu Baraka, Monica Moorehead, Mumia Abu-Jamal…
popularresistance.org/now-in-print-and-a…

America Is Contributing to Iran’s Shocking Covid-19 Death Toll
Editor | scheerpost.com | 2020-12-12
Farhad Babaei/ Magnus News] By Juan Cole / Informed Comment The US financial and trade blockade of Iran, which has strangled its economy, has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s coronavirus response. Nick Paton Walsh, Jo Shelley, Ramin Mostaghim and Scott McWhinnie at CNN did a great story on this heartrending travesty. They write, “Retired teacher Khalif Farahani struggles to speak… | Source…
scheerpost.com/2020/12/12/america-is-con…

90 members of Taliban killed in Afghan’s Kandahar prov
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-12-12
TEHRAN, Dec. 12 (MNA) — Afghanistan Ministry of Defense in a statement on Saturday announced that 90 members of Taliban were killed in the past 24 hours in Kandahar province.
en.mehrnews.com/news/167086/90-members-o…

Hainan Intl Film Fest to host “Bandar Band”
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-12-12
TEHRAN, Dec. 12 (MNA) — The Iranian film “Bandar Band” is scheduled to be screened at the Chinese Hainan International Film Festival in the current month.
en.mehrnews.com/news/167062/Hainan-Intl-…

People gather in front of Turkish Consulate in Tabriz
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-12-12
TEHRAN, Dec. 12 (MNA) — A number of people in Tabriz gathered in front of the Turkish Consulate on Saturday to condemn Erdogan’s remarks.
en.mehrnews.com/photo/167083/People-gath…

How to Cure America’s Vaccine Paranoia
Sonali Kolhatkar | zcomm.org | 2020-12-12
The vaccine refusers among us will likely continue to benefit from living in a largely vaccinated community, mooching off of the herd immunity they refuse to contribute to…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/how-to-cure-americ…

Qatar: Between the Scylla of Coercion and the Charybdis of Accommodation: an inquiry into sub-regional geopolitics
Richard Falk | zcomm.org | 2020-12-12
Responses to Interview Questions on Sub-Regional Geopolitics in the Persian/Arab Gulf countries, Qods News Agency, 10 Dec 2020…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/qatar-between-the-…

An Icy Rally With Burning Demands
Victor Grossman | zcomm.org | 2020-12-12
The rally, organized by the peace movement with a motto best translated as “Don’t Arm, Disarm!”, called on legislators to reject a big hike in the armament budget, now up for debate…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/an-icy-rally-with-…

Mass protests for reproductive rights erupt in Poland: Why Americans should learn from them
Julie Burkhart | salon.com | 2020-12-12
Poland is a reminder that when authoritarians take power, attacks on reproductive rights often follow…
salon.com/2020/12/12/mass-protests-for-r…

[World Report] Humanitarian access deal for Tigray
Sharmila Devi | thelancet.com | 2020-12-12
Humanitarian groups will be allowed into Tigray, Ethiopia, where conflict has displaced thousands and strained health services. Sharmila Devi reports.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)32669-6/fulltext?rss=yes

[World Report] Experts call to include prisons in COVID-19 vaccine plans
Nayanah Siva | thelancet.com | 2020-12-12
As some countries begin vaccination, experts are questioning the allocation and prioritisation lists. Nayanah Siva reports.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)32663-5/fulltext?rss=yes

[Correspondence] Maintaining a gendered perspective in scientific meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic
Berit Lange | thelancet.com | 2020-12-12
Several studies have pointed towards the COVID-19 pandemic’s potential to negatively affect career paths of women in science.1,2 Although the impact on manuscript submissions and publications, as one career path mechanism, has been well documented,3 an area that is often difficult to elucidate as part of the mechanisms underlying differential progress of male and female researchers is that of invitations to give scientific talks and to chair scientific meetings. Here, the merit of such an invitation is not always transparent or as easy to assess as a publication record.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)32512-5/fulltext?rss=yes

Predicting hyperprogressive disease in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma treated with anti-programmed cell death 1 therapy
Lu Zhang, Lingeng Wu, Qiuying Chen, Bin Zhang, Jing Liu, Shuyi Liu, Xiaokai Mo, Minmin Li, Zhuozhi Chen, Luyan Chen, Jingjing You, Zhe Jin, Xudong Chen, Zejian Zhou, Shuixing Zhang | thelancet.com | 2020-12-12
We identified three clinical variables as risk factors for HPD, providing an opportunity to aid the pre-treatment evaluation of the risk of HPD in patients treated with immunotherapy.
thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PI…(20)30417-X/fulltext?rss=yes

[Review] Retinal vascular occlusions
Ingrid U Scott, Peter A Campochiaro, Nancy J Newman, Valérie Biousse | thelancet.com | 2020-12-12
Acute retinal vascular occlusions are common causes of visual impairment. Although both retinal artery occlusions and retinal vein occlusions are associated with increased age and cardiovascular risk factors, their pathophysiology, systemic implications, and management differ substantially. Acute management of retinal artery occlusions involves a multidisciplinary approach including neurologists with stroke expertise, whereas treatment of retinal vein occlusions is provided by ophthalmologists. Optimisation of systemic risk factors by patients’ primary care providers is an important component of the management of…
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)31559-2/fulltext?rss=yes

Friday 12/11: Solidarity Rally! Support Bookshop Santa Cruz Union!
Support Bookshop Santa Cruz Union | indybay.org | 2020-12-12
Pacific Avenue and Locust Street, Santa Cruz…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/12/10/1883889…

Congress Passes Shell Company Accountability Bill
Jubilee USA Network | indybay.org | 2020-12-12
By a vote of 84 to 13, the Senate passed corporate transparency legislation as part of the annual vote on the National Defense Authorization Act.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/12/11/1883891…

Iran-Pakistan library cooperation to expand
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-12-12
TEHRAN, Dec. 12 (MNA) — In a meeting between the Director-General of the National Library of Pakistan and Iran’s cultural attache in the country, it was decided to expand library cooperation between the two countries.
en.mehrnews.com/news/167055/Iran-Pakista…

John Kerry’s Think Tank Calls For War With Russia Over Climate Change
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-12-12
Recently-appointed Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry has announced his intention of dealing with the pressing issue of global warming as a national security concern. “America will soon have a government that treats the climate crisis as the urgent national security threat it is,” the 76-year-old former Secretary of State wrote. “I am proud to partner with the President-elect, our allies, and the young leaders of the climate movement to take on this crisis.” | The announcement drew praise from many professional climate activists and groups, perhaps assuming that Kerry was taking his lead from Berni…
popularresistance.org/john-kerrys-think-…

[Comment] Offline: The coming technocracy
Richard Horton | thelancet.com | 2020-12-12
As 2020 draws to a close, one trend among nations most severely hit by COVID-19 bears some discussion. It is that democracies are evolving into technocracies, by which I mean a form of governance where those with political power are appointed on the basis of their scientific expertise. It would be hard to deny that scientists have assumed a role in political decision making unparalleled in recent memory. The French public intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy was the first to raise the issue of medical power.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)32668-4/fulltext?rss=yes

Saturday 12/12: SC1.5NCE Not SILENCE: Five-year Anniversary of Paris Agreement Climate Emergency Forum
March for Science | indybay.org | 2020-12-12
Online via livestream or Zoom…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/12/11/1883890…

A North Las Vegas Homeless Camp Was Bulldozed
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-12-12
Monday November 30, officials bulldozed an encampment that houseless people had been living in along a wash near Lake Mead Boulevard and Losee Road. | The cities of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, as well as the Department of Transportation, cited unsafe conditions at the camp. The three public entities share jurisdiction of the area. | But advocates for the people living in the camp say the government’s action was not only heartless, but it actually made the situation much worse by displacing people who have nowhere else to go — and went against CDC pandemic guidelines.
popularresistance.org/a-north-las-vegas-…

Tory anger over Navy no-deal threat as trade negotiations enter crunch stage
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-12-12
Senior Conservatives have reacted angrily to Boris Johnson’s handling of the Brexit trade negotiations and the threat to deploy Royal Navy gunboats to patrol UK fishing waters in the event of no-deal.Dad’s Navy: The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that four 80-metre armed vessels have been placed on standby to guard British waters from EU trawlers in the event that there is no new agreement on fishing rights after 31 December when transitional arrangements end.Reports also suggested that military helicopter surveillance will be made available and that ministers are considering beefing-up Navy powers in l…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2020/12/12/tory-ang…

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Military-Grade Weapons Do Not Make Cops Or Cities Safer
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-12-12
Over the last forty years, state and local police budgets have increased at astounding rates, with billions of dollars going toward military-grade equipment for law enforcement. The premise is simple: a better-equipped police force ought to be able to do their job–protecting the public–better, as well as offer more protection for the officers themselves. But two independent studies have punctured those ideas, finding that militarizing police forces does not reduce crime, nor does it increase officer safety. | As ABC News reports, the two peer-reviewed studies, one coming from the University of Michiga…
popularresistance.org/military-grade-wea…

Iranian Parliamentary Members condemn Erdogan’s remarks
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-12-12
TEHRAN, Dec. 12 (MNA) — Iranian Parliamentary Members condemned the Turkish President’s remarks on Iran in a statement on Saturday.
en.mehrnews.com/news/167078/Iranian-Parl…

[Clinical Picture] Occult fracture in teenager’s tibia revealed by MRI
Zeng Li, Bin Feng, Xisheng Weng | thelancet.com | 2020-12-12
A 13-year-old girl presented with a 2-week history of mild pain in her right knee. She reported no recent injury. x-rays showed a high-density linear abnormality with a periosteal reaction in the proximal right tibia (figure), which medical staff, at the hospital where she was first seen, thought might have been a tumour of the bone.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)32516-2/fulltext?rss=yes

LIVE: Climate Ambition Summit
news.un.org | 2020-12-12
Live coverage of the Climate Ambition Summit 2020, an important step forward in the battle against the climate crisis, with several major economies announcing new commitments to cut their carbon footprints and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. | What is the Climate Action Summit? | UN Secretary-General declares “state of climate emergency” | What is net zero? | What comes next?>…
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/12/1…

Russia urges Armenia, Azerbaijan to uphold Karabakh ceasefire
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-12-12
TEHRAN, Dec. 12 (MNA) — Russian peacekeepers called on Armenia and Azerbaijan Republic to uphold Karabakh ceasefire after violation claims.
en.mehrnews.com/news/167085/Russia-urges…

Chilean Embraces Environmental Ethos on Oregon Coast
Paul Haeder | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-12-12
Before heading over to interview this subject, I was thinking of a possible epigraph for the piece. One from a Chilean: Discovery is not seeing what there is (that is impossible at any level), but rather allowing oneself to converge towards a continually freshly-created reality. ‚Äï Chilean economist, Manfred Max-Neef, From the Outside Looking In: Experiences …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/12/chilean-embra…

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Araghchi meets with Afghan nat. security adviser
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-12-12
TEHRAN, Dec. 12 (MNA) — Iranian Deputy FM Abbas Araghchi met and held talks with the National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib in Kabul on Saturday.
en.mehrnews.com/news/167067/Araghchi-mee…

This New York cheesecake recipe swaps graham crackers with pie crust crumbs to elevate the crust
Petra Paredez | salon.com | 2020-12-12
Did you know cheesecake is really a pie? Here’s how to make it the right way from the owner of Petee’s Pie Company…
salon.com/2020/12/12/recipe-new-york-che…

[Articles] Genome-edited, donor-derived allogeneic anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T cells in paediatric and adult B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: results of two phase 1 studies
Reuben Benjamin, Charlotte Graham, Deborah Yallop, Agnieszka Jozwik, Oana C Mirci-Danicar, Giovanna Lucchini, Danielle Pinner, Nitin Jain, Hagop Kantarjian, Nicolas Boissel, Marcela V Maus, Matthew J Frigault, André Baruchel, Mohamad Mohty, Athos Gianella-Borradori, Florence Binlich, Svetlana Balandraud, Fabien Vitry, Elisabeth Thomas, Anne Philippe, Sylvain Fouliard, Sandra Dupouy, Ibtissam Marchiq, Maria Almena-Carrasco, Nicolas Ferry, Sylvain Arnould, Cyril Konto, Paul Veys, Waseem Qasim, UCART19 Group | thelancet.com | 2020-12-12
These two studies show, for the first time, the feasibility of using allogeneic, genome-edited CAR T cells to treat patients with aggressive leukaemia. UCART19 exhibited in-vivo expansion and antileukaemic activity with a manageable safety profile in heavily pretreated paediatric and adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. The results this study are an encouraging step forward for the field of allogeneic CAR T cells, and UCART19 offers the opportunity to treat patients with rapidly progressive disease and where autologous CAR-T-cell therapy is unavailable.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)32334-5/fulltext?rss=yes

Victory! Seville Cancels Electronic Warfare Europe Arms Fair
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-12-12
In a press release issued today by the City Council of Seville, the Councilor of Urban Housing, Tourism and Culture, Antonio Muñoz, announced the cancellation of the Electronic Warfare Europe arms fair which was scheduled to take place at the Palace of Exhibitions and Congresses of Fibes in Seville in May 2021. | The same fair had been cancelled in Liverpool, UK, where Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest private weapons manufacturer whose arms are regularly used by the Israeli military to kill and maim Palestinian civilians, was a partner.
popularresistance.org/victory-seville-ca…

UN climate report calls out global elite as cause of the crisis
Tina Landis | liberationnews.org | 2020-12-12
The report takes a surprisingly class perspective by pointing out that the one percent richest people on the planet are responsible for emissions equal to that of the poorest 50 percent of the world’s population.
liberationnews.org/un-climate-report-cal…

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CBO Shows Medicare For All Could Cover Everyone For Less Per Year
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-12-12
The Congressional Budget Office on Thursday released a report examining the costs associated with universal healthcare proposals that are based on Medicare’s fee-for-service program and found that implementing a single-payer health insurance program in the United States would not only guarantee coverage for every person in the country but would also reduce overall healthcare spending nationwide. | In the words of researcher Matt Bruenig–founder and president of the progressive think tank People’s Policy Project who called the CBO’s working paper (pdf) on the topic…
popularresistance.org/cbo-shows-medicare…

Progress of Iranian nation not to stop by scientist assaults
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-12-12
TEHRAN, Dec. 12 (MNA) — Brigadier General Ismail Kowsari said that not only scientist assassinations do not hinder the progress of the Iranian nation, but also increase their determination and awareness to stand up and resist global arrogance.
en.mehrnews.com/news/167048/Progress-of-…

Wednesday 12/16: NAACP Town Hall: Slowing Pandemic Spread, #COVID19 Vaccine, & Health of Black Community
NAACP | indybay.org | 2020-12-12
Online town hall…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/12/11/1883891…

Iran to conduct human test of domestic COVID-19 vaccine
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-12-12
TEHRAN, Dec. 12 (MNA) — The head of the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order (EIKO) said that Iran will conduct the human test of domestic COVID-19 vaccine for the first time in two weeks.
en.mehrnews.com/news/167066/Iran-to-cond…

Syrian envoy submits credentials to FM Zarif
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-12-12
TEHRAN, Dec. 12 (MNA) — Newly-appointed Syria’s ambassador to Tehran Shafiq Dayoub submitted a copy of his credentials to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
en.mehrnews.com/news/167068/Syrian-envoy…

[World Report] Cheaper HIV treatment for children