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This evening's music features blues guitarist and singer Lonnie Mack. Enjoy!

“If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.”

-- Terry Pratchett

News and Opinion

Trump appointee urged ‘herd immunity’ approach to combat Covid – ‘we want Americans infected’

A top White House appointee in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) urged health officials in July to double down on a “herd immunity” approach to combating the Covid-19 pandemic, writing “we want [Americans] infected”.

Paul Alexander, a former aide to HHS assistant press secretary Michael Caputo and a known herd immunity advocate, wrote an email to Caputo on 4 July – right as virus cases were spiking in the Sun Belt – laying out his case for herd immunity. “Allow the nation to develop antibodies. Infants, kids, teens, young people, young adults, middle aged with no conditions etc. have zero to little risk… So we use them to develop herd… we want them infected,” Alexander wrote in the email, which was obtained and published by Politico.

Public health experts have said throughout the pandemic that a herd immunity strategy would lead to the healthcare system becoming overwhelmed and many more deaths due to the virus. While children and young adults tend to have milder cases of the virus, that does not mean they are completely immune to the virus’ most serious effect. A study of 3,000 adults aged 18 to 34 found that, of those sick enough to be hospitalized, 21% ended up in intensive care.

The emails are surfacing as part of a House investigation into interference from the White House on the work of career scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Coronavirus: Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf says coronavirus approach 'has failed'

Sweden's king has said his country "failed" to save lives with its relatively relaxed approach to the coronavirus pandemic. King Carl XVI Gustaf made the remarks as part of an annual TV review of the year with the royal family.

Sweden, which has never imposed a full lockdown, has seen nearly 350,000 cases and more than 7,800 deaths - a lot more than its Scandinavian neighbours.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said he agreed with the king's remarks. "Of course the fact that so many have died can't be considered as anything other than a failure," Mr Lofven told reporters. ...

Instead of relying on legal sanctions, Sweden appeals to citizens' sense of responsibility and civic duty, and issues only recommendations. There are no sanctions if they are ignored. Sweden has never imposed a nationwide lockdown or the wearing of masks, and bars and restaurants have remained open.

Evictions Are Violence: Millions Could Lose Homes Amid COVID Pandemic If Federal Moratorium Expires

Two people dying every hour in Los Angeles county as it sees ‘explosive surge’

Two people are dying of Covid-19 every hour in Los Angeles county, as California smashed its previous daily record for deaths and hospitals struggle to keep up with the surge of coronavirus patients.

Most California residents are under a stay-at-home order as California battles a deadly surge in Covid-19 cases and intensive care unit capacity across the state dwindles.

Two people are dying every hour in the county, said Barbara Ferrer, the public health director for the county. “We’re experiencing an explosive and very deadly surge,” she said.

On Thursday, authorities reported that 379 had died of the virus in the state, a new one-day record. Meanwhile, more than 52,000 new cases were also confirmed in the last day.

The staggering new figures mean California has seen more than 1,000 deaths in the last five days and nearly 106,000 confirmed cases in just two days. The pandemic death toll reached 21,860 in California, which has also seen the most cases in the nation with more than 1.7m confirmed.

Recommendation paves way for FDA authorization of Moderna Covid vaccine in US

An advisory committee for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended the agency authorize a second Covid-19 vaccine, this one developed by Moderna and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

The recommendation paves the way for the FDA to give emergency approval for a second highly effective vaccine to be used in the US. That approval could come by the end of the week. An FDA analysis found Moderna’s vaccine is more than 94% effective at preventing Covid-19 in a trial of more than 30,000 participants. ...

The recommendation comes from the FDA’s Center for Biologics and Evaluation and Research vaccine advisory committee, an independent panel of experts who last week recommended the agency authorize a vaccine developed by Pfizer/BioNTech.

"It's really quite shameful that we find ourselves negotiating a deal with such a small amount of money," @IlhanMN tells Mehdi about Covid relief. "A possible one-time check of $600," 9 months after struggling Americans received $1,200: "We are not embarrassed enough as leaders." pic.twitter.com/Ttsw6IDRKT

— The Mehdi Hasan Show (@MehdiHasanShow) December 17, 2020

Establishment TRASHES Bernie, Hawley For Trying To Force Stimulus Checks Higher

'Gratuitously Cruel': Outrage as GOP Tries to Prevent People on Unemployment From Also Receiving Stimulus Check

Republican negotiators in Congress are reportedly trying to prevent Americans currently receiving federal unemployment insurance from also getting a direct payment under a soon-to-be-finalized relief package, apparently outraged by the notion that millions of people struggling to afford healthcare, food, and rent could obtain aid on top of their inadequate weekly jobless benefits.

As congressional leaders on Wednesday made significant progress toward a deal that would include one-time direct payments of around $600 per person, Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters that "there could be language in the deal aimed at addressing concerns that people who receive both enhanced unemployment benefits and stimulus checks would be getting a 'double benefit,'" The Hill reported.

The proposed restriction immediately provoked backlash, and Democratic negotiators are reportedly confident they will be able to keep the language out of the final $900 billion package.

"Imagine thinking someone who's trying to pay the rent and buy food with $100, $200, or $300 per week is going to live high on the hog because they get an extra one-time $600," said Ashley Schapitl, a spokesperson for Senate Finance Committee Democrats.

Economist Robert Reich added that, "funny enough, [Republicans] never take issue with doubling down on corporate bailouts and tax cuts for the wealthy," a point echoed by others.

The Republican effort to prevent desperate Americans from receiving a so-called "double benefit" came after the GOP already reportedly succeeded in paring back the duration of unemployment benefits in exchange for the inclusion of direct payments.
Citing unnamed people familiar with the negotiations, the Washington Post reported Wednesday that "congressional leaders have told other lawmakers that they are planning on reducing the length of unemployment benefits by one month from the bipartisan plan," which proposed a four-month extension of emergency unemployment programs set to expire on December 26. (Update: As of Thursday morning, negotiators have rolled back the duration of the unemployment benefit extension even further, to just 10 weeks.)

"That could mean that the extended benefits would expire at the end of March," the Post noted. "Such a timeline could force the incoming Biden administration to move more quickly in its effort to pass a massive stimulus bill early next year."

How Close Trump Aides NUKED $2,000 Stimulus Checks

'Republican Party Doesn't Give a Damn About You': McConnell Admits Direct Checks Only Included to Help GOP Win in Georgia

After opposing another round of stimulus checks for months in the face of deteriorating economic conditions and widespread suffering, Republican congressional leaders have finally agreed to include direct payments in a coronavirus relief package that could be approved by the end of the week.

During a private GOP conference call Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) provided a straightforward and revealing reason for the sudden change of heart: "Kelly and David are getting hammered."

McConnell was, of course, referring to Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, the Georgia incumbents now facing off against Democratic challengers Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in runoff elections that conclude on January 5 and will determine control of the Senate.

The outcome of the two Georgia races—which are already driving record-shattering early voter turnout—could also determine whether Congress and the Biden administration are able to approve a relief package beyond the likely soon-to-be-finalized $900 billion measure, which progressive lawmakers and experts are criticizing as woefully inadequate.

pic.twitter.com/GjuPop9kjW

— Marnel Garçon (@BBMarnel) December 18, 2020

David Sirota: How Bipartisan Austerity Mindset Is Killing People

Coronavirus stimulus: ‘I know exactly where we can get the money’ to pay for stimulus checks, says Rep. Tlaib

A $900 billion coronavirus stimulus deal seems imminent. Top Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) sounded optimistic on Wednesday, saying, “It's not a done deal yet, but we are very close.” A point of contention amid the negotiations has been the inclusion of another round of stimulus checks for Americans. The bipartisan $908 billion proposal unveiled on Dec. 9 and then split into two parts this week did not include stimulus payments. The deal will also likely leave out state and local government aid and liability protections for businesses, both sticking points in previous negotiations. ...

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D. Mich.) has been involved in the negotiations and says Americans should be given another round of $1,200 checks. “I’m hearing as we try to debate this COVID relief package that we now can’t afford to give people another $1,200 stimulus check,” Tlaib told Yahoo Finance. “Well, guess what, I know exactly where we can get the money to pay for it. And I believe Jeff Bezos knows exactly where as well.”

Tlaib has proposed that the U.S. fund another round of checks by reversing President Trump’s $1.5 trillion tax cuts passed in 2017. “That tax program was very egregious and so unfair to the American people. And we are seeing the devastation of it. I mean, our school system needs close to $300 billion to make up for the tax loss that many of us are going to see in the coming year,” said Tlaib. She has joined a group of lawmakers requesting Congressional leaders include $305 billion for K-12 education in coronavirus relief legislation.

Tlaib criticized the scrutiny Congressional leaders have placed on Americans in deciding whether they should be given another round of stimulus checks. “I hear them always saying that when it comes to my residents, and asking for stimulus payment, but they never question what are the billionaires doing with that tax break? What are they spending money on?” said Tlaib. ...

Small businesses and residents in Michigan, Tlaib said, “are paying their fair share. They’re paying more than Jeff Bezos is. My small bakeries. My small restaurants are paying more than the richest man in the world. And they know that’s unfair.” Amazon (AMZN) paid no U.S. federal income taxes in 2017 and 2018 (largely because of various tax credits and deductions) despite posting income of $3.03 billion and $10.07 billion for each of those years respectively. In 2019, Amazon paid roughly 1.2% or $162 million on $11.59 billion in income.

Millionaire Republican Cites Deficit To Block Aid — After Enriching Himself With Special Tax Cuts

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson on Friday moved to block emergency survival checks to millions of Americans, citing concerns about the federal deficit. Johnson’s move not only follows his vote for a massive $500 billion corporate slush fund — it also follows his successful effort to enrich himself with a giant tax cut that expanded the deficit.

Johnson, who is worth an estimated $39 million, led the fight in 2017 to create special tax breaks for so-called “pass-through” businesses, or real estate shell companies. Johnson was one of several Republican senators who backed the last-minute provisions inserted in the bill — and who listed income from those pass-through entities on their federal financial disclosure forms. 

Based on those federal filings, Johnson stood to personally reap up to $205,000 from the tax cut provisions he championed. ...

In all, the tax legislation Johnson backed is projected to increase the deficit by $1.9 trillion over 10 years, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.

Most Profitable US Companies Fired Workers, Enriched Shareholders During Pandemic

While the Covid-19 pandemic and corresponding economic crisis have made 2020 a devastating year for the vast majority of people throughout the United States, most of the country's biggest companies have prospered—only to hand a larger chunk of profits to shareholders while firing thousands of workers.

An in-depth investigation published Wednesday by the Washington Post illuminates how "big businesses are having a very different year from most of the country," which is suffering as a result of the federal government's negligent response to the ongoing public health catastrophe and inadequate provision of financial assistance to working-class households.

"This is a global crisis but the big companies are not treating it as one—they haven't skipped a beat," said William Lazonick, an emeritus economics professor at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.

The Post shared examples of the "surprisingly upbeat" outlook shared by executives at some of America's largest corporations: "I don't think we've ever been more excited or energized about our prospects," PayPal finance chief John Rainey said on a November conference call. "These are times when the strong can get stronger," Nike chief John Donahoe told analysts in September.

According to the newspaper's analysis, 45 of the 50 most highly valued U.S. companies have "turned a profit" in 2020. Despite their financial success, 27 of those firms cut staff this year, laying off more than 100,000 workers in the midst of an intertwined health and economic emergency.

Instead of using the wealth produced by workers to keep employees on payroll, corporations "put Americans out of work and used their profits to increase the wealth of shareholders," the Post found.

At the outset of the coronavirus crisis, the Post reported, a handful of corporate executives who "appeared eager to make good" on a pledge made last year "to focus less on shareholders and more on the well-being of their employees and broader communities... suspended payments to investors and vowed not to hold layoffs." But then several "big firms that were profitable during the pandemic laid off workers anyway."

"Companies sent thousands of employees packing while sending billions of dollars to shareholders," the Post noted. "Walmart, whose CEO spent the past year championing the idea that businesses 'should not just serve shareholders,' nonetheless distributed more than $10 billion to its investors during the pandemic while laying off 1,200 corporate office employees."

Pandemic layoffs:

B. Hathaway: 13,300 workers

Cisco: 8,000 workers

Comcast: 3,500 workers

AT&T: 3,400 workers

Citigroup: 2,000 workers

Oracle: 1,300 workers

Walmart: 1,240 workers

Salesforce: 1,000 workers

All of these companies have turned a profit during the pandemic.

— Public Citizen (@Public_Citizen) December 16, 2020

FORCE THE VOTE! The Case for Forcing a Vote on Medicare For All!

Looks like AOC has fewer personal reasons not to go rogue now:

The Establishment Strikes Back

Committee assignments are one of the least eye-catching parts of politics, but they’re also one of the most important ways in which actual political power is wielded. Certain committees in the House, like Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Appropriations, have outsized influence and money power. (They are often called the “money” committees, not just because they’re where the action is but because members can earn lots of money in campaign contributions from industries with business before them.)

Deliberations over the next several days will be extremely important for progressives in the House, as they angle to lock down seats on these powerful committees for their members. To that end, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was expected to secure a prized position on the Energy and Commerce Committee, a seat vacated by outgoing New Yorker Eliot Engel. Among other issues, the committee has jurisdiction over health care and climate change issues, a natural for a congresswoman who has championed Medicare for All and the Green New Deal.

Ocasio-Cortez was expected to cruise comfortably to the position. She was the first to raise her hand for the seat, and she won the backing of dean of the New York delegation Rep. Jerry Nadler. But last week, as Politico reported, Long Islander Kathleen Rice made an out-of-nowhere, last-second bid for the seat, interrupting the process. Rep. Rice is a backbencher from the party’s right flank who, in 2018, refused to support Nancy Pelosi for Speaker. Without the support of Nadler, and with the famous opposition of Steering Committee leader Pelosi, Rice’s attempt didn’t seem to be serious.

But in a surprise, last-second Steering Committee meeting on exclusive committee assignments Thursday, which was scheduled at 10 p.m. the night before, centrist Democrats put on a show of support for Rice and against AOC, in what looks to have been a process-defying attempt to keep AOC out of the seat. Fellow New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries came out in support of Rice, contra Nadler, as did Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Diana DeGette (D-CO), and Stephanie Murphy (D-FL).

Most vocal in his opposition to Ocasio-Cortez’s candidacy was Texas’s Henry Cuellar, the caucus’s most conservative member. After Ocasio-Cortez was nominated and seconded, Cuellar opposed, commenting: “I’m taking into account who pays their dues and who doesn’t work against other members whether in primaries or in other contexts,” according to a source with knowledge of the meeting. After Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) called for a vote on the two candidates came an unusual outcome: Rice crushed AOC 46-13. ...

There are plenty of committee assignments left to be announced, and progressives did win a handful of priority appointments on the money committees. New York Rep. Ritchie Torres got a spot on Financial Services, and Adriano Espaillat made it onto Appropriations. But the treatment of AOC and Garcia looks like a shot across the bow that will have progressives on high alert. If other committee assignments go this way, it will become an open question as to whether a newly united progressive bloc will oppose Pelosi’s speakership come January 3.

Pentagon Training Equates Whistleblower Chelsea Manning With Terrorists

In the decade since her historic transfer of secret military and diplomatic materials to WikiLeaks, Chelsea Manning has consistently and across party lines been condemned as a traitor. Less common, and absent entirely from the government’s efforts to imprison her, are allegations that her leak was an act of terrorism. But anti-terrorism training materials obtained by The Intercept show that the Pentagon is teaching defense workers exactly that.

Both civilian contractors and enlisted personnel are commonly required to complete JS-US007, a Pentagon course designed to “increase your awareness of terrorism and to improve your ability to apply personal protective measures,” according to Joint Knowledge Online, a Department of Defense education portal. JS-US007 covers a variety of grimly serious topics, from detecting roadside bombs to surviving active shooter scenarios and skyjackings. The training also covers so-called insider threat attacks, acts of terroristic violence in which members of a group strike the group itself, like the 2009 Fort Hood, Texas, shooting in which Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan shot and killed 13 individuals on the base, wounding 30 more. ...

But unclassified JS-US007 materials obtained by The Intercept show that the Pentagon’s anti-terrorism trainees are learning a far broader definition of terrorism, one that includes the entirely nonviolent acts of Manning. On a slide listing “Examples of attacks by individuals thought to be loyal to the US,” Manning’s “2010 leaking of over 500,000 documents concerning operations in Iraq and Afghanistan” is listed first, followed by three examples of murder: the “2009 active shooter attack at Fort Hood,” the “2003 active shooter attack at Camp Pennsylvania,” and the “2001 anthrax attacks against Government facilities” that closely followed the attacks of September 11. Another slide in the presentation lists Manning’s alleged “anti-American statements” as a “pre-attack indicator.”

The JS-US007 training is reminiscent of a 2017 “insider threat” seminar presented by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s National Insider Threat Task Force and reported by the Daily Beast, which listed National Security Agency whistleblower Thomas Drake in a gallery of “Those that have done us harm,” including Hasan and Aaron Alexis, who fatally shot 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard in 2013. But while that ODNI presentation framed whistleblowing and leaking only in vague terms of doing “harm” to the intelligence establishment — itself an uncontroversial claim — the JS-US007 slides go further, drawing an explicit parallel between the unauthorized disclosure of state secrets and murder.

Lawrence Wilkerson on Biden's pro-war cabinet

Guantánamo Defense Attorney Implores Biden to Stop Cycle of Impunity by Holding Trump Accountable for His Crimes

The Biden administration should avoid perpetuating the culture of impunity at the apex of U.S. leadership that undoubtedly emboldened President Donald Trump to commit human rights crimes both at home and abroad, argues one Guantánamo Bay defense attorney in an op-ed published Thursday by Business Insider.

Alka Pradhan, human rights counsel at the Military Commissions Defense Organization at Guantánamo Bay, writes that failure to hold government officials accountable for their criminal policies and actions seriously harms U.S. national security and foreign relations.

For example, writes Pradhan, "during the Bush administration, our use of torture wrecked our national security by weakening international alliances, degrading military operations, and even contributing to troop deaths (pdf)."

"When he took office in 2009, [Former President Barack] Obama almost immediately declared he was ending the United States' torture program," she notes. "Yet the Obama administration refused to hold anyone from the Bush administration accountable, insisting that 'we're going to look forward, not backward.'"

Yes, as @PradhanAlka says, Biden needs to hold Trump, Bush officials accountable for #torture & other grave violations of the law https://t.co/xOULVb9OXF

— ML Satterthwaite (@SatterthwaiteML) December 16, 2020

Not only did Obama break a campaign promise by failing to prosecute any of the Bush administration officials who planned, authorized, and implemented the global CIA and military torture regime, his administration actively shielded them from ever having to face justice for their crimes. Obama's refusal to prosecute officials he knew committed torture-related crimes is itself a war crime under the Convention Against Torture.

While none of the Bush torturers ever faced the "reckoning" Obama promised, his administration did prosecute and imprison whistleblowers John Kiriakou and Chelsea Manning for revealing U.S. torture. As Pradhan notes:

Gina Haspel, who destroyed torture evidence at one of the CIA's black sites, is now director of the CIA. Steven Bybee, who authored Justice Department memoranda permitting the use of torture on detainees, is now a 9th Circuit judge who ruled in favor of government immunity for torture. John Yoo, who infamously championed the president's absolute power to crush the genitals of a child and now teaches at Berkeley Law, recently reappeared to apply his theory of absolute power to President Trump.

All of this, asserts Pradhan, has exacerbated a climate of impunity in which "the Trump administration has flouted the law on a nearly daily basis." She writes:

The administration has created detention camps on the border, initiated illegal family separations that may never be rectified, and allowed police officers to kill Black Americans without consequence or censure. Most recently, the president created a false narrative regarding the election that led to threats of violence against elected officials.

"While these most recent events are shocking, they are also the direct consequences of the lack of government accountability committed under the guise of 'national security' that has been running rampant for decades," writes Pradhan. ...

However, Biden has given no indication that he intends to hold Trump or any members of his administration accountable for their crimes and other misdeeds. To the contrary—and in strikingly similar language to Obama and Ford—Biden transition team insiders recently claimed that the president-elect has said that he "just wants to move on." And as Pradhan notes, "Biden is even considering the nomination of Mike Morell, a torture apologist, to the CIA."

Biden will keep using U.S. sanctions as a weapon

Joe Biden will not shy away from using President Donald Trump’s weapon of choice - sanctions - as he seeks to reshape America’s foreign policy, according to people familiar with his thinking. But when Biden takes office on Jan. 20, he is expected to quickly begin recalibrating Trump’s blunt-force approach while taking time to deliberate before making any major changes with top sanctions targets like Iran and China, the sources said. ...

The revised strategy will be crafted with help from a broad review of sanctions programs that will begin soon after Biden’s inauguration, the sources said on condition of anonymity. But even before this assessment is complete, Biden is expected to make clear that sanctions will remain a central instrument of U.S. power - although it will no longer be deployed with the “America First” bravado that has driven Trump’s foreign policy.

Among the early possibilities, according to two sources, could be lifting sanctions Trump imposed in September on officials of the International Criminal Court over its investigation into whether the U.S. military committed war crimes in Afghanistan, a move denounced by European allies. Biden could also match British and European Union sanctions against Russians over the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, said one person familiar with the matter. Moscow has denied any involvement.

Rahm still in the mix https://t.co/WsMKmlpIhj

— Krystal Ball (@krystalball) December 18, 2020

Mar-a-Lago neighbors say Trump can’t live there after White House

Neighbors of Donald Trump’s infamous Mar-a-Lago golf club in Palm Beach, Florida are warning the president that he cannot live at the club after he leaves the White House, following an agreement he made with the town in 1993. In a letter to the town of Palm Beach and the US Secret Service sent this week, a lawyer representing a family that lives next to Mar-a-Lago reiterated that “Mar-a-Lago is a social club, and no one may reside on the property.”

“To avoid an embarrassing situation for everyone and to give the president time to make other living arrangements in the area, we trust you will work with his team to remind them of the use agreement parameters,” wrote Reginald Stambaugh, the lawyer.

Multiple reports indicate that Trump has already made arrangements to move to the Sunshine State: Trump’s apartment at the club is being renovated and Melania Trump is looking at Florida schools for 14-year-old Barron Trump. And while Trump was largely associated with New York City before his move to Washington, Trump shifted his domicile from New York to Florida in 2019 and voted for himself as a Florida resident this year.

The members-only club was once the residential estate of Marjorie Merriweather Post, an American socialite, up until 1985 when Trump purchased the estate with the goal of turning it into a money-making venture. Trump signed an agreement in 1993 with the local government of Palm Beach that would allow him to turn the private residence into a business so long as he followed a set of rules, including a limitation on how many days of the year Trump can live at Mar-a-Lago.

The agreement says that Trump cannot live at the club for more than three nonconsecutive weeks in a year, which does not bode well with the president’s plan to permanently move to the club once he moves out of the White House.

Krystal Ball: How 2020's Bright Spots Could Transform Politics

Winona LaDuke: Deb Haaland's Nomination for Interior Sec. Is "Important Step" for Native Americans

Biden picks Deb Haaland as first Native American interior secretary

Joe Biden has chosen the US lawmaker Deb Haaland as interior secretary and will nominate the North Carolina official Michael Regan to head the Environmental Protection Agency, in two diverse and influential picks to handle crucial issues such as public lands, pollution and the climate crisis.

Haaland, a progressive Democratic congresswoman from New Mexico since 2019, would be the first Native American cabinet secretary and one of the first Native Americans ever to serve in a US cabinet. The department’s jurisdiction covers tribal lands and vast tracts of protected American wilderness, including jewels such as Yellowstone and Yosemite national parks. ...

Haaland is a member of Pueblo of Laguna and would become the first descendant of the original people to populate North America to run the interior department, which has often had a difficult relationship with the 574 federally recognized tribes in the US, the Washington Post reported. And she has told the Reuters news agency she would seek to usher in an expansion of renewable energy production on federal land to contribute to the fight against climate change, and undo Donald Trump’s regressive focus on bolstering fossil fuels output.

Meanwhile, Biden plans to nominate Regan, North Carolina’s top environmental regulator, to head the EPA, according to Reuters. ... Regan brings years of experience dealing with fossil fuel industries in his home state, including overseeing a roughly $9bn settlement agreement with utility Duke Energy for the nation’s largest clean-up of coal ash. Regan has also previously worked at the EPA and worked on climate change and pollution initiatives for the Environmental Defense Fund, a green advocacy group.

The Pandemic Pipeline: Land & Water Defenders Continue Resistance to Enbridge Line 3 in Minnesota

US FDA declares genetically modified pork 'safe to eat'

Genetically modified (GM) pigs have been approved for food and medical use in the US, drawing mixed reactions. The pigs are only the second GM animal to be approved for food after GM salmon in 2015.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week approved the GM pigs, which have been engineered to eliminate alpha-gal, a sugar found in pigs that can cause allergic reactions.

The FDA said it was the first time it had approved a GM animal for human food and medical use.

The FDA said it had determined that the food from the GM pigs, known as GalSafe pigs, is “safe for the general population to eat”, and suggested the meat might be sold by mail order.

A spokesperson for United Therapeutics Corp, the GM pig developer, was more cautious. In an email to the Guardian, the company’s head of investor relations said it had no plans to sell meat directly. The more immediate goal, he said, was to focus on alpha-gal free, whole-organ transplants for patients with alpha-gal syndrome.

Also of Interest

Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.

Glenn Greenwald: Instagram is Using False “Fact-Checking” to Protect Joe Biden’s Crime Record From Criticisms

A New Bill Aims to End Police Raids Like the One That Killed Breonna Taylor

Recording Proves Assange Warned State Department Ahead of Cable Dump

Assange supporters stage protest in front of Guardian offices in London

CIA-Backed Afghan Death Squads Massacred Children Inside Religious Schools in Campaign of Terror

Sued by 38 Attorneys General, Google Hit With Third Antitrust Case

“Get Biden Elected Then We’ll Influence Him From The Left”

End The Austerity Loop

Fed Chair Powell Opens a Big Can of Worms at His Press Conference

Americans’ Hunger During the Coronavirus Pandemic – Here’s What’s Happening in Los Angeles County

Not a wonderful world: why Louis Armstrong was hated by so many

Krystal and Saagar: Pfizer Says MILLIONS Of Vaccine Doses Stuck In Warehouses, What Is Happening?

Rising: How Partisan Divide Has DESTROYED Local Politics

Saagar Enjeti’s GREAT THINGS Of 2020: Vaccines, Stimulus Checks, A Coming Populist Revolution

A Little Night Music

Lonnie Mack - Why

Lonnie Mack, Albert Collins & Roy Buchanan

Lonnie Mack - Down In The Dumps

Lonnie Mack - Cocaine Blues

Lonnie Mack - Hound Dog Man

Lonnie Mack & The Charmaines - Sticks And Stones

Lonnie Mack - I Found A Love

Lonnie Mack - Chicken Pickin'

Lonnie Mack - Memphis

Keith Richards, Lonnie Mack & Ron Wood - Lonely Man

Lonnie Mack @ The Roxy - Wash DC 9-13-88