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"Lobbying is the world's second - oldest profession."

-- Bill Press

News and Opinion

If you are in a mood to be disgusted with the U.S. political system, read this whole article:

K Street Requests Taxpayer Bailout of Corporate Lobbyists

K Street may soon have its own taxpayer-funded bailout.

Industries as varied as oil refining, construction, fast food restaurants, and chemical manufacturing are seeking federal cash to support their lobbyists in Washington, D.C.

Many of the largest lobbying forces are organized under the 501(c)(6) section of the tax code as trade groups. Corporations with similar concerns pool their money together to fund trade groups, which in turn employ thousands of lobbyists to shape elections and legislation on a daily basis. But the Paycheck Protection Program, the centerpiece of the small business rescue program, excluded such trade groups. That could change in the next round of stimulus legislation, which Congress is scheduled to debate later this month.

Lobbyists have stepped up a campaign to make sure professional influence peddlers are eligible for the PPP, or P3, funds. The push also includes a demand for an additional $25 billion for canceled events and other lost revenue from the coronavirus pandemic. ...

The letter was signed by many of the most influential Beltway lobby groups. The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers Association, one of the trade groups requesting the 501(c)(6) bailout, pays its top lobbyist, Chet Thompson, $1.8 million a year. The group represents the largest oil refiners in the country, including Exxon Mobil, Koch Industries, and Motiva Enterprises, the U.S. arm of Saudi Arabian oil company Aramco. Other trade groups that joined the letter include the National Retail Federation, which represents firms such as Walmart and Macy’s; the National Restaurant Association, which represents McDonald’s and Darden Restaurants; and ACA International, the lobby group for debt collectors.

Krystal and Saagar discuss with TYT's Jonathan Larsen: What corporations want in the next bailout

Trump poised to wind down Covid-19 taskforce as US death toll tops 70,000

Donald Trump is preparing to wind down the White House coronavirus taskforce even as the US death toll has topped 70,000 and experts warn that the worst is yet to come. Mike Pence, the vice-president and taskforce chair, said on Tuesday that coordination of the pandemic response could be transferred back to federal agencies in late May or early June.

But in the wake of a leaked internal White House report suggesting that the daily US death toll will climb to 3,000 per day by June, the move is likely to fuel concerns that Trump has all but abandoned a public health strategy in favour of economic imperatives.

“I’m not saying anything is perfect, and yes, will some people be affected? Yes. Will some people be affected badly? Yes,” Trump said during a trip to Arizona – a battleground state in the 2020 presidential election – on Tuesday. “But we have to get our country open, and we have to get it open soon.”

In an interview with David Muir of ABC News on Tuesday evening, Trump was asked directly: “Do you believe it’s the reality we’re facing, that lives will be lost to reopen the country?”

The president said: “It’s possible there will be some because you won’t be locked into an apartment or a house or whatever it is, but at the same time we’re going to practise social distancing, we’re going to be washing hands, we’re going to be doing a lot of the things that we’ve learned to do over the last period of time. And we have to get our country back.”

Native American health center asked for COVID-19 supplies. It got body bags instead.

In mid-March, as the Seattle region grappled with a coronavirus outbreak, a community health center caring for the area's Native American population made a pressing request to county, state and federal health agencies: Please send medical supplies.

What it received almost three weeks later left staff members stunned.

"My team turned ghost white," said Esther Lucero, chief executive officer of the Seattle Indian Health Board. "We asked for tests, and they sent us a box of body bags."

The health board's center — serving about 6,000 people a year in Seattle and King County — still has the package, which is filled with zippered white bags and beige tags that read "attach to toe." ...

Abigail Echo-Hawk, the health board's chief research officer, said she believes that the message it sends, even unintentionally, is resonating in Native American communities across the United States during the pandemic: There is a pressing lack of adequate resources and funding as promised. ...

Research shared this month from Public Health — Seattle & King County suggests that social distancing efforts in the region have been effective, with the county's infection rate falling since early March, although the rate of infection among people of color is still four times that of whites.

U.S. Mercenaries Captured in Venezuela After Failed Coup Attempt Compared to a “Bad Rambo Movie”

Donald Trump denies link to Venezuela armed raid by US citizens

Donald Trump has denied any involvement by the US government in what Venezuelan officials have called a failed armed incursion in the South American country that led to the capture of two American “mercenaries”.

The president made the comment to reporters at the White House after Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, announced that authorities there had detained two US citizens working with a US military veteran who has claimed responsibility for the foiled operation. “We’ll find out. We just heard about it,” Trump said when asked about the incident and the Americans’ arrests. “But it has nothing to do with our government.”

In a televised address, Maduro said authorities arrested 13 “terrorists” on Monday involved in what he described as a plot coordinated with Washington to enter the country via the Caribbean coast and oust him. Eight people were killed during the incursion attempt on Sunday, Venezuelan authorities said.

Maduro showed what he said were the US passports and other identification cards belonging to Airan Berry and Luke Denman, whom he said were in custody and had been working with Jordan Goudreau, an American military veteran who leads a Florida-based security company called Silvercorp USA.

The two detained Americans, former special operations forces members who had served with Goudreau, were believed to be in the custody of Venezuelan military intelligence, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The U.K.’s Coronavirus Contact Tracing App Is a Complete Mess

The U.K. has developed its own coronavirus contact tracing app that will alert users when they come within six feet of someone known to be infected. There are just a few problems: The app doesn’t really work, it has serious privacy issues, and it might, in fact, be illegal.

The U.K. decided to build its own app rather than use the one being jointly developed by Apple and Google, primarily because the latter option would be a decentralized application, meaning all personal information would remain on users’ phones rather than being sent to a central server controlled by the government. Apple and Google’s version uses Bluetooth to detect nearby carriers, but because the government’s version doesn’t, it’s going to be much less effective.

Instead, the U.K. app relies on the user’s phone to broadcast a unique ID number at all times in order to detect other nearby devices running the app. But Apple’s iOS software expressly forbids any app from doing this while the app is running in the background. The result is that unless a user has their iPhone open and running the software, the U.K. app will not record many possible encounters. ...

On Android, the app will continue to broadcast the ID number only while the app is running the background for a few minutes, before shutting it off like the iPhone. But the app not working very well is just one of the problems the government is facing. There are also serious privacy concerns.

The Inventors of Bluetooth Say There Could Be Problems Using Their Tech for Coronavirus Contact Tracing

Bluetooth has spent much of its life ignobly associated with crummy headphones, byzantine connection procedures, and car stereo systems that never quite seem to work right. Now this wireless technology concocted in the ’90s to help PCs and mobile phones communicate is being asked to step up and save the planet from a global pandemic. According to its two co-inventors, there could be some issues.

Named for the 10th century king Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson, famous in Scandinavia for uniting (and Christianizing) the Danes, the humble, oft-derided wireless technology included in some form in nearly every portable device from the past decade and beyond is central to coronavirus contact tracing apps pushed by Apple, Google, and governments across the world. Banking on the standard’s ubiquity, and considerably improved reliability since the ’90s, these entities hope to turn billions of Bluetooth-enabled devices into an army of public health automatons that can map anyone who came into contact with someone who tests positive for Covid-19.

Although the exact plans for using Bluetooth vary between governments, the gist is simple: In order for your iPhone to connect to your friend’s Bluetooth speaker, it has to essentially shout its existence into the electromagnetic spectrum, sending repeated radio messages that announce that the device is turned on and willing to pair with another. It’s exactly these short, repeating radio wave bursts that tech companies and public health authorities hope can be used for contact tracing, by collecting an anonymized record of every Bluetooth announcement within a certain range. If one of these “HELLO, I AM BLUETOOTH!” messages ends up coming from an individual who later tests positive for Covid-19, the hope is that anyone else whose phone was able to detect that message could then be alerted and tested (or treated) accordingly. It’s a fine, if somewhat ambitious, plan on paper, and the Apple/Google partnership is already drawing generally positive commentary from the privacy and civil liberties-minded set for its efforts to mask the identity of a Bluetooth device’s owner. ...

I asked Jaap Haartsen and Sven Mattisson, who invented Bluetooth together while working at the Swedish telecom Ericsson, whether their tech was up to the task. While both expressed hope that Bluetooth could be used to save lives, they also noted that problems of accuracy are very real. ... Haartsen, Mattisson’s co-inventor, shared his concerns over radio wave wonkiness, but also added that the whole issue is moot unless people end up using the app in great numbers:

“All around the world, even in my country, groups are working on smartphone apps for helping us to get back to normal life after the corona lockdown. Bluetooth is only part of the big puzzle. Yes, Bluetooth could keep track which other phones have been in range, however the accuracy is not great (yet). But at least you do not need to use location data like GPS which would be sensitive to privacy issues. Privacy and data security are very high on the agenda and need to be solved before people (at least in my country) will use it. And of course the sheer number of people that will activate the app. If it is only scarcely used, it will be useless.”

Critics Warn Covid-19 Digital 'Privacy' Bill Is Really 'Anti-Privacy' Bill in Disguise

Digital rights advocates sharply rejected legislation announced by a group of Republic senators that would cover how technology companies use consumer data as part of contact tracing measures to help stem the spread of COVID-19.

"This is an anti-privacy bill, not a privacy bill," Evan Greer, deputy director at Fight for the Future, said Tuesday.

Greer warns that the GOP lawmakers "are pretending to care about Big Tech companies' abuses while pushing for legislation that would do absolutely nothing to protect people."

The proposed legislation in question is the COVID-19 Consumer Data Protection Act, announced in an April 30 press statement by GOP Sens. Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Jerry Moran, (Kan), John Thune (S.D.), and Roger Wicker (Miss.). Thune told Politico he hopes the measure can be included as part of the next coronavirus relief package.

According to Moran, the proposal would "address specific consumer privacy violations resulting from COVID-19." But Fight for the Future countered that assertion, calling the legislation a "thinly veiled attempt to weaken existing privacy protections."

Public Knowledge, a group that advocates for an open internet, was also critical of the proposed bill and detailed a number of concerning aspects.

"Companies may still profit from selling health information or geolocation data, and are allowed to infer who has been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus," said Sara Collins, policy counsel at the group. "The only 'restrictions' apply to data specifically collected for coronavirus contact tracing. Even these limited protections fail to apply to law enforcement or federal agencies."

"The bill gives no new resources to the Federal Trade Commission to enforce the law, no new enforcement powers, and—despite reference to any FTC rules—no new rulemaking authority," said Collins.

"To make matters worse," she continued, "the bill gratuitously preempts the much stronger FCC privacy protections governing mobile carriers. These protections have been used to ensure data on mobile phones are not shared with third parties without the user's permission. As a final insult to consumer privacy, the bill would preempt the states from adopting or enforcing any stricter privacy protections in the absence of strong federal protections at the FTC."

"This bill is truly a privacy 'cure' worse than the disease," said Collins.

Greer, in her statement, urged lawmakers to "cut the crap and enact real data privacy legislation as soon as possible."

"Now more than ever," she said, "it's essential for both human rights and public health."

The concerns over the proposed legislation came a month after over 100 human rights groups warned that governments' response to the Covid-19 pandemic "must not be used as a cover to usher in a new era of greatly expanded systems of invasive digital surveillance."

Kids Are Being Hospitalized in New York with Strange Heart Symptoms That Might Be Related to Coronavirus

Fifteen kids in New York City have been hospitalized since mid-April with strange symptoms, including inflamed arteries in their hearts, that might be related to COVID-19, the city’s health department announced Monday.

The doctors don’t yet know exactly what’s going on with the children, but more than half were treated with drugs that raise blood pressure, and five of the 15 were put on mechanical ventilators. None of them have died.

Their symptoms, including inflamed blood vessels, are similar to toxic-shock syndrome or a rare disease called Kawasaki Syndrome, which causes swollen feet, rash, and pink eye. Of the 15 kids displaying these symptoms, most tested positive for either the coronavirus or for the antibodies that indicate that they likely previously had the virus. Some, however, tested negative for both virus and antibodies.

Strangely, fewer than half of the children, between the ages of 2 and 15, had respiratory symptoms, which have been the defining feature of COVID-19 in adults. “If your child has symptoms like fever, rash, abdominal pain or vomiting, call your doctor right away,” Dr. Oxiris Barbot, New York City’s health commissioner, said in a statement.

Trump Pushes Tax Cut Designed To Crush Socal Security. w/Dylan Ratigan

'Outrageous, Callous, and Cruel': Seniors Rip Trump for Holding Covid-19 Relief Hostage to Push Social Security Cuts

Grassroots advocacy groups representing millions of retirees and seniors across the United States are speaking out against and urging Congress to oppose President Donald Trump's threat to block desperately needed Covid-19 relief legislation if it does not slash the payroll tax, which funds Social Security and Medicare.

"It is outrageous, callous, and cruel for President Trump to hold the American people, and seniors in particular, hostage if Congress doesn't go along with his plan to gut Social Security for current and future retirees," said Richard Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, an organization with over four million members nationwide.

"The president's plan is also bad economics. Social Security puts more than $800 billion into the economy each year. Destabilizing the system when we are in the middle of an economic downtown is exactly the opposite of what we need to do," Fiesta added. "The 4.4 million members of the Alliance for Retired Americans call on all members of Congress to refuse to make such a deal. We will fight this attempt to gut Social Security and in November we will remember who was willing to defend and protect our earned benefits."

During a Fox News town hall Sunday night, Trump said he would oppose any additional coronavirus stimulus package that does not include his long-desired payroll tax cut, which would provide zero direct relief to the more than 30 million Americans who have lost their jobs over the past six weeks. The president suggested at a press briefing last month that the tax cut should be permanent.

"We're not doing anything unless we get a payroll tax cut," Trump said Sunday, just days after vowing to protect Social Security and Medicare.

Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, said in a statement Monday that Trump's remarks "set off alarm bells for America's seniors and their advocates."

"Make no mistake: by pushing to cut off the program's funding stream, President Trump is taking the first step toward dismantling Social Security," said Richtman. "The president's campaign to eliminate payroll taxes is a violation of his patently false promises to seniors 'not to touch' Social Security. This proposal goes way beyond 'touching.' Choking off Social Security's funding stream is an existential threat to seniors' earned benefits."

The multi-trillion-dollar CARES Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law in late March, contains a provision allowing employers to delay payment of the payroll tax for at least the duration of 2020.

Advocates warned at the time that the provision, which replaces payroll tax revenue with general revenue, represents a fundamental threat to Social Security's long-term financial health. Nancy Altman, president of advocacy group Social Security Works, predicted that Republicans will "undoubtedly use the general revenue to demand cuts to Social Security in the name of 'reining in entitlements.'"

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a proponent of Social Security cuts, hinted in that direction last month, declaring that "the future of our country in terms of the amount of debt that we're adding up is a matter of genuine concern."

In a statement on Monday, Altman said the president's relentless push for a payroll tax cut shows "how desperately Trump and the right-wing ideologues surrounding him want to defund Social Security, so they have an excuse down the road to demand cuts to our earned benefits."

"Trump's actions are a war on seniors," said Altman. "He wants to open up the economy, even though Covid-19 is disproportionately costing seniors their lives. Now he is insisting on threatening Social Security on which most seniors rely for their food, medicine, and other basic necessities. Members of Congress, particularly House Democrats, need to stand strong and call Trump's bluff."

NYC housing activists call for nationwide #CancelRent strike

California sues Uber and Lyft for misclassifying drivers as contractors

California is suing Uber and Lyft, alleging they misclassified their drivers as independent contractors under the state’s new labor law, in the most significant challenge to the ride-hailing companies’ employment model to date.

Xavier Becerra, the state’s attorney general, announced the lawsuit Tuesday during a news conference. The labor law, known as AB5 and considered the nation’s strictest test, took effect on 1 January and makes it harder for companies to classify workers as independent contractors instead of employees who are entitled to minimum wage and benefits such as workers compensation and unemployment benefits – a key exclusion that has come to the fore during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Uber and Lyft claim their drivers aren’t engaged in the companies’ core mission and cannot qualify for benefits,” said Becerra. “These companies will take the workers’ labor, but they won’t accept the worker protections. California has ground rules with rights and protections for workers and their employers. We intend to make sure that Uber and Lyft play by the rules.”

The dispute over the employment status of Uber and Lyft drivers is as old as the companies themselves. Over the years, gig economy companies have attracted – and largely fought off or settled – a host of class-action lawsuits over employee classification. But an enforcement lawsuit by the state, which will not have the same incentive to settle as a private plaintiff’s attorney, represents an “unprecedented” escalation that is much more likely to bring about meaningful change, said Veena Dubal, a law professor at the University of California Hastings who researches the gig economy. ...

California represents Uber and Lyft’s largest source of revenue. The companies, as well as Doordash, have invested $30m apiece in a ballot initiative campaign to exclude their drivers from the law while giving new benefits such as health care coverage. The initiative is likely to qualify for the November ballot. The ballot initiative campaign was the subject of a scathing reference in the legal complaint filed by the state, which lambasted the companies for launching “an aggressive public relations campaign in the hopes of enshrining their ability to mistreat their workers” in the middle of “a once-in-a-century pandemic”.

A Worker in Amazon's New York Warehouse Has Died of the Coronavirus

A worker at Amazon’s Staten Island warehouse has died of COVID-19, the company confirmed to VICE News.

Since March, workers at that fulfillment center in New York have been protesting, calling for additional safety precautions to protect them from the coronavirus. The company has instituted some additional safety precautions; it also fired a worker [Christian Smalls] for protesting and then tried to smear him.

The company said that the employee who died hadn’t been at the warehouse since he tested positive for the coronavirus on April 11. “We are deeply saddened by the loss of an associate at our site in Staten Island, NY,” an Amazon spokesperson said. “His family and loved ones are in our thoughts, and we are supporting his fellow colleagues.” ...

New York’s attorney general has taken notice: A letter from the AG’s office dated April 22, obtained by NPR, noted that the company may be providing “inadequate” protections to its workers under state law. That letter also noted that the company may have violated labor law by firing Christian Smalls.

Amazon is cracking down on protesters and organizing, workers say

Amazon’s revenues topped $33m an hour in the first three months of the year as the coronavirus pandemic locked down large parts of the world. The sales boost has handed Amazon the biggest dilemma of its 25-year life: how to deal with a growing chorus of critics within the company. So far its reaction has only made matters worse.

Last week an Amazon vice-president, Tim Bray, resigned in protest at what he called the company’s “chickenshit” decision to fire colleagues in the company’s warehouse division who had highlighted safety issues. “Remaining an Amazon VP would have meant, in effect, signing off on actions I despised,” wrote Bray. Bray is just the latest, most highly paid, Amazon employee to speak out. Other critics have not had the luxury of resigning and some of those who remain say the company is actively trying to silence them.

The pushback on critics comes as both Democrats and Republicans are calling for investigations into Amazon’s dominance. The company may be winning the sales war during the pandemic but the aftermath looks set to be a different story. ...

At least six Amazon workers who have participated in protests or vocally advocated for improvements to worker safety and conditions have been fired during the pandemic, and several other workers have reported facing disciplinary write-ups from Amazon after protesting.

Despite Skyrocketing Unemployment, Tennessee Valley Authority Plans to Outsource Hundreds Of Federal Jobs to Overseas Companies

As Donald Trump vows to save the economy amid the global pandemic, while the number of Americans filing for unemployment has skyrocketed to 30 million, the Tennessee Valley Authority, or TVA, the nation’s largest government-owned power provider, has announced plans to outsource 20 percent of its highly-skilled technology workforce to Capgemini, CGI, and Accenture — companies based in France, Canada, and Ireland respectively.

At least 120 workers have already learned they will be losing their jobs later this summer, and the TVA has informed the engineers’ union that another 100 jobs are likely on the chopping block. Affected workers were told in late April to prepare to train their own replacements, according to an email reviewed by The Intercept.

While TVA claims the jobs will remain in the United States, citing the existence of U.S.-based subsidiaries for some of its vendors, workers say outsourcing labor is baked into these firms’ business model. The companies employ substantial workers abroad; Capgemini alone has 100,000 workers based in India. The potential outsourcing of federal jobs flies in the face of the “America First” rhetoric that underpins Trump’s presidency and reelection campaign. ...

The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, IFPTE, the union that represents the TVA workers, says it has also seen how this story has played out at other utility companies across the country. In California, for example, when Pacific Gas and Electric laid off hundreds of workers in 2017, at least 70 of those jobs ended up being outsourced to India — a move the company did not initially disclose. And in 2015, when Disney laid off 250 IT workers in Orlando, the company replaced them with foreign guest workers on H-1B visas, employed by global outsourcing firms. In TVA’s case, the company recently increased its use of H-1B visas — which allow companies to replace American workers with foreign nationals for jobs designated a “specialty occupation” with a salary of at least $60,000 — over the last year.

TVA workers stress there’s no evidence whatsoever that their current staff is not capable of doing the software work themselves.

Krystal and Saagar: Hilarious vintage footage reveals repeated Biden lies

Judge reinstates New York's presidential primary after state cancelled it

A federal judge has reinstated New York’s June Democratic presidential primary, siding with Andrew Yang, the former candidate, who sued the state in federal court and called the recent decision to cancel the contest “authoritarian and illegal”. The judge ruled Tuesday that the state had wrongfully removed the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, Yang and eight other former presidential candidates from the ballot.

The decision came after two Democrats on the state’s election commission cancelled the presidential primary last week, relying on a new budget provision allowing them to remove presidential candidates who suspended their campaigns. The move outraged Sanders supporters and other progressives who said New York, a Democratic bastion, was actively disenfranchising voters.

“It goes against what the party stands for,” said Heather Key, who volunteered for the Sanders campaign. “They’re always on the case about gerrymandering and cheating with the GOP. And yet here they are controlling whether we can vote for the president of our choosing.”

The US district judge Analisa Torres wrote that the state had deprived voters of their constitutional guarantee of freedom of association. New York voters, she said, weren’t just voting for a presidential candidate, but also for delegates who could influence the direction of the Democratic National Convention in August. (Sanders and Biden announced an agreement last month to let Sanders keep hundreds of delegates, and make sure the senator is represented at the Democratic national convention.)

“The removal of presidential contenders from the primary ballot not only deprived those candidates of the chance to garner votes for the Democratic party’s nomination … it deprived Democratic voters of the opportunity to elect delegates who could push their point of view in that forum.”

Krystal and Saagar: Andrew Yang saves Bernie Sanders on the ballot in New York state

Conservation in crisis: ecotourism collapse threatens communities and wildlife

From the vast plains of the Masai Mara in Kenya to the delicate corals of the Aldabra atoll in the Seychelles, conservation work to protect some of the world’s most important ecosystems is facing crisis following a collapse in ecotourism during the Covid-19 pandemic. Organisations that depend on visitors to fund projects for critically endangered species and rare habitats could be forced to close, according to wildlife NGOs, after border closures and worldwide travel restrictions abruptly halted millions of pounds of income from tourism.

Throughout the pandemic, scientists have repeatedly urged humanity to reset its relationship with nature or suffer worse outbreaks. But the economic consequences of the Covid-19 lockdown have raised fears of a surge in poaching, illegal fishing and deforestation in life-sustaining ecosystems, with tens of thousands of jobs in the ecotourism sector at risk around the world. “It’s right that the global focus now is on protecting human lives in this devastating pandemic. However, in the places we work, we are already witnessing its economic impact, particularly in areas where communities rely heavily on ecotourism for their livelihoods,” said Mike Barrett, executive director of science and conservation at WWF UK. ...

While the poaching of rhinos, big cats and critically endangered species has continued during lockdown, a recent Wildlife Justice Commission report found the illegal wildlife trade had been severely disrupted by movement and travel restrictions. But conservationists fear an explosion of illegal hunting if organisations are forced to lay off wildlife rangers and suspend surveillance programmes. Black rhinos in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, have been evacuated after at least six were killed by poachers in March.

Democrats and Climate Groups Say Covid-19 Relief Must Not Include Legal Immunity for Fossil Fuel Industry

Sixty Democratic members of Congress were joined by dozens of public interest groups Tuesday in demanding that any upcoming coronavirus relief legislation excludes legal immunity for fossil fuel companies. 

The fossil fuel industry has been lobbying aggressively for language to be included that would immunize companies from legal liability for the damage their pollution has done to communities, public health, and the environment. 

"The nation's efforts to respond to one catastrophic global crisis should not be the occasion to immunize polluters from the legal consequences of helping create another catastrophic global crisis," said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who led his colleagues in writing a letter to House leaders. "We must respond with speed, wisdom, and foresight to help our constituents survive this public health calamity and put the nation back on its feet."

In an early draft of the third Covid-19 relief package, fossil fuel companies were designated as "covered entities" providing "critical infrastructure" and "lifeline functions."

The draft said covered entities should have "liability protection" and that "no covered entity...should be liable for harm caused by a covered activity."

The language was eventually left out of the final package, but according to Raskin fossil fuel lobbyists are still attempting to include liability protection for the industry in upcoming legislation.

Trump administration drafts pact for mining on the moon

The Trump administration is drafting a legal blueprint for mining on the moon under a new US-sponsored international agreement called the Artemis Accords, according to people familiar with the proposed pact.

The agreement would be the latest effort to cultivate allies around Nasa’s plan to put humans and space stations on the moon within the next decade, and comes as the civilian space agency plays a growing role in implementing American foreign policy. The draft pact has not been formally shared with US allies yet.

The Trump administration and other spacefaring countries see the moon as a key strategic asset in outer space. The moon also has value for long-term scientific research that could enable future missions to Mars – activities that fall under a regime of international space law widely viewed as outdated.

The Artemis Accords, named after the Nasa’s new Artemis moon program, propose “safety zones” that would surround future moon bases to prevent damage or interference from rival countries or companies operating in close proximity.

The pact also aims to provide a framework under international law for companies to own the resources they mine, the sources said.

Also of Interest

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

Fed Chair Powell Has Upwards of $11.6 Million Invested with BlackRock, the Firm that Will Manage a $750 Billion Corporate Bond Bailout Program for the Fed

“Capital in the 21st Century”: Finally, a Movie That Tells the Story of How We Got Into This Mess

Official Fired for Standing Up to Trump’s Coronavirus Corruption Files Whistleblower Complaint

Prague revamp reveals Jewish gravestones used to pave streets

Conservation in crisis: why Covid-19 could push mountain gorillas back to the brink

Krystal Ball: Michelle Obama's voter shaming is everything wrong with Dem establishment

Bioluminescent waves dazzle surfers in California

A Little Night Music

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Strange Things Happening Every Day

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Rock Me

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - God Don't Like It

Sister Rosetta Tharpe With Lucky Millinder - Shout, Sister, Shout

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Nobody's Fault But Mine

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - That's All

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Cain't No Grave Hold My Body Down

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - This Train

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Trouble In Mind

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Up Above My Head