GOP sets up showdown with head of teachers union

THEIR FAVORITE BOOGIE WOMAN

BY LEXI LONAS - 04/26/23 

American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten addresses reporters during a press conference on Wednesday, February 8, 2023 to discuss the American Teacher Act.

A fight between Republicans and teachers unions three years in the making will come to a head Wednesday as GOP members of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic laser in on American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten.

Weingarten will be the sole witness to appear at the 2 p.m. hearing, which Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) has said will “delve into the role Ms. Weingarten and the AFT played in editing the CDC’s school reopening guidance and keeping schools closed longer than necessary.”


Wenstrup was referring to the “Operational Strategy for K-12 Through Phased Mitigation” guidance the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released during the height of the pandemic that made suggestions on how and when schools should reopen for in-person learning.

Weingarten, Wenstrup said, “may have jeopardized the well-being of our nation’s children during the COVID-19 pandemic. If so, she should be held accountable.”

The hearing will not be the first time tension between Republicans and teachers unions has bubbled to the surface, with the GOP’s embrace of school choice and the traditional Democratic support for the unions causing strife for years.

Republican members will no doubt take the opportunity to voice a number of grievances with teachers unions at the hearing, which itself has been a long time coming.

Almost two years ago, Americans for Public Trust released emails they received from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that showed communications between AFT and the CDC regarding the guidance, infuriating the GOP.

“We are grateful for the agency’s effort to bring some measure of organization and framework to guidance. We are likewise grateful for the inclusion of some of the mitigation efforts we have been calling for since last year,” read an email from AFT to the CDC. “It is our hope that we can be engaged early in the process moving forward, as we believe our experiences on the ground can inform and enrich thinking around what is practicable and prudent in future guidance documents.”

The correspondence showed Weingarten joined a call with CDC officials, and the CDC said in emails they accepted some of the suggestions from AFT on the guidance.

Since the release of the documents, Republicans have blamed AFT and other teachers unions for keeping students out of in-person classes, saying their suggestions to the guidance are the reason schools did not open quicker.

AFT, along with others, did get an advanced look at the guidance with the ability to make suggestions. Wenstrup sent out letters to 14 nongovernmental organizations the CDC worked with on its guidance asking about communications between the groups.

AFT, however, argues Republicans have blown the influence its union had out of proportion and that the few changes the CDC accepted from it did not have any effect on school closures.

AFT counsel Michael Bromwich, a high-profile attorney who has represented former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe and now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford, sent a letter to Wenstrup last week detailing the “false and misleading claims” Republicans have made.

The only proposal changes the CDC approved from AFT, according to Bromwich, was the guidance should encourage schools to provide accommodations for teachers at high risk for COVID-19 and language that said guidance might have to be updated if a new variant caused transmissions to spike.

“During the call, the AFT promised to send the CDC proposed language to consider related to accommodations for high-risk educators and staff, which a senior AFT staff member sent to the CDC on February 1, 2021,” Bromwich said.

Bromwich argued it would have been “irresponsible” for the CDC not to consult with AFT on any of the guidance, since the teachers union has 1.7 million members.

Republicans on the subcommittee dismissed the letter last week.

“A letter is like a free throw, no one is playing defense. Next week, Ms. Weingarten will be under oath. The Select Subcommittee appreciates AFT foreshadowing her testimony, and we look forward to discussing it on Wednesday,” a subcommittee spokesperson said.

Weingarten has already submitted her written opening testimony, reiterating much of what Bromwich said in the letter to the committee.

The union leader also spends much of the testimony talking about how she was pushing for school reopenings since 2020, pointing to news articles written about her efforts and AFT’s school reopening plan released in May 2020.

“We did all this work… yet Chairman Wenstrup, you and this Subcommittee are focusing on a few sentences in the CDC’s 38-page Operational Strategy. Not the relentless efforts and numerous steps the AFT took to reopen schools safely,” Weingarten said in the submitted testimony.

This hearing is a sequel: Part one last month examined the general consequences of school closures during the pandemic. The topic ended up becoming a debate over who was to blame for the prolonged closures, with Republicans pointing the finger at teachers unions while Democrats said it was the fault of the Trump administration in handling the pandemic. 

In her testimony, Weingarten is set to reiterate the Democrats’ point during the last hearing, blaming the policies of the Trump administration for schools having to be closed because they weren’t supported in safe practices to reopen.

“It is offensive to suggest, as your letter does, that our agenda was otherwise—to keep schools closed. We are schoolteachers, school nurses and school-related personnel. We teach children, and we believe kids need to be in school. In school buildings,” she plans to say.

“And it is even more offensive to suggest that our views at any time were shaped by considerations other than our profound desire and duty to protect children and their educators from the ravages of COVID-19.”

Sanders forgoes 2024 bid, endorses Biden

BY AL WEAVER - 04/25/23 THE HILL

Annabelle Gordon
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is seen during a nomination hearing for Deputy Secretary of Labor Julie Su to be Secretary of Labor on Thursday, April 20, 2023.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Tuesday that he is supporting President Biden’s reelection in 2024 and is foregoing a third presidential bid.

Sanders, who finished second to Biden in 2020 for the Democratic presidential nomination, made the announcement hours after Biden announced his bid for a second White House term. He also discouraged any progressive politician or individual from challenging the incumbent president, asking them to train their focus on defeating former President Trump or another eventual GOP nominee.

“The last thing this country needs is a Donald Trump or some other right-wing demagogue who is going to try to undermine American democracy or take away a woman’s right to choose, or not address the crisis of gun violence, or racism, sexism or homophobia,” Sanders told The Associated Press in an interview. “So I’m in to do what I can to make sure that the president is reelected.”

“People will do what they want to do,” Sanders said about a possible progressive challenger to the president. “I think Joe Biden will be the Democratic nominee. And my job, and I think the progressive movement’s job, is to make certain that he stands up and fights for the working class of this country and does not take anything for granted.”

Sanders had left the door open to a 2024 campaign for much of the past year, largely in case Biden, 80, declined to seek a second term. Biden has for months teased that he would seek four more years in office, but he waited until Tuesday to make that call official. Transgender lawmaker in Montana faces censure or expulsionWoman pleads guilty in ‘Killer Clown’ case

The decision also means that Sanders, 81, will not seek the presidency again. Sanders, who also finished second to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 race for the Democratic nod, said running for the presidency was “a wonderful privilege.”

“I enjoyed it very much, and I hope we had some impact on the nature of American politics. But right now, my job is to do what I can as chairman of the [Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee], to see Biden gets reelected and to see what I can do to help transform policy in America to help protect the needs of workers,” he told the AP.

Sanders is up for reelection for a fourth term in 2024, but he has yet to announce his plans.

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to take on new role at Harvard

BY JULIA MUELLER - 04/25/23

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks during a press conference in Sydney, Australia, July 8, 2022. New Zealand’s arts council has decided to stop funding an organization that each year hosts Shakespeare festivals and competitions for thousands of teens and Ardern, who participated in the festival herself as a teenager, said Monday, Oct. 17, 2022, that she disagrees with the decision. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Tuesday that she’ll join Harvard University for a semester as she takes on two fellowships after exiting her country’s Parliament.

Ardern said she’s “incredibly humbled” to join Harvard Kennedy School as its 2023 Angelopoulos Global Public Leaders Fellow and as a Hauser Leader at the school’s Center for Public Leadership.

“Jacinda Ardern showed the world strong and empathetic political leadership,” Kennedy School Dean Douglas Elmendorf said in a statement Tuesday. “She earned respect far beyond the shores of her country, and she will bring important insights for our students and will generate vital conversations about the public policy choices facing leaders at all levels.”

The ex-prime minister will also work with the Berkman Klein Center at the Harvard Law School as its first Knight Tech Governance Leadership Fellow, the school said.

“It’s rare and precious for a head of state to be able to immerse deeply in a complex and fast-moving digital policy issue both during and after their service,” said Professor Jonathan Zittrain, the co-founder and faculty director of Berkman Klein Center, in a statement.

Ardern said the center has been “an incredibly important partner” as New Zealand worked to address violent extremism online after a white supremacist shooter killed 51 people at two mosques in New Zealand’s Christchurch in 2019.

“While I’ll be gone for a semester (helpfully the one that falls during the NZ general election!) I’ll be coming back at the end of the fellowships. After all, New Zealand is home!” Ardern said in an Instagram post.

After more than five years as prime minister, Ardern announced her resignation in January — several months before New Zealand’s general election later this year — saying she no longer had “enough in the tank” to continue leading the island nation.

EU to unveil reforms for cheaper drugs

AFP
Issued on: 26/04/2023 

The proposed reforms are intended to make pharmaceutical drugs cheaper, prevent shortages and speed up delivery of new compounds 

© Louisa GOULIAMAKI / AFP/File

Brussels (AFP) – The EU on Wednesday is to unveil a long-awaited proposed reform of legislation governing pharmaceutical drugs to make them cheaper, prevent shortages and speed up delivery of new compounds.

The overhaul aims to bring "timely and equitable access for patients to affordable drugs" in the bloc, EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides tweeted.

The reform is the biggest in two decades, and has in part been informed by Brussels' swift, concerted action during the Covid pandemic that underscored the benefits of less-burdensome procedures, greater transparency and joint measures.

The pharmaceutical industry has been intensively lobbying ahead of the presentation of the proposals.

A leak in February of a draft version of them sparked criticism from companies worried that the exclusive period they had over selling new drugs could be shortened from 10 years to eight.

The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations warned against steps that could constrain innovation.

While the European Commission aims to bring down the cost of medicines, it doesn't have the power to set prices in the European Union.

That is the prerogative of national governments who negotiate with pharmaceutical groups.

The EU executive is also intent on tackling shortages of drugs for rare diseases, and unequal access to medicines across the 27-nation bloc, especially in eastern member states.

Another challenge to be tackled is increasing microbial resistance to existing antibiotics, which each year leads to 35,000 deaths in the European Union.

Because antibiotics are meant to be taken in moderate, defined doses they are less lucrative to pharmaceutical companies than blockbuster drugs.
Voucher system

To address that problem, the commission is looking at introducing transferable vouchers that would allow a company coming up with a new, effective antibiotic to apply a lengthened period of exclusivity to another more profitable drug, or to sell that right to another company.

Around half the EU member states, including France, Belgium and the Netherlands, are wary of that idea though, worried it would weigh on national health systems.

The pharmaceutical industry has expressed concern that the changes could constrain innovation

 © Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP/File

The European Consumer Organisation has also come out against that proposal.

"But so far, no one has proposed a better system," said one EU lawmaker, Peter Liese, who is also a medical doctor.

He said that virtually no new antibiotic had been produced in 20 years. On this issue and the others the commission is proposing, "innovation-friendly regulation is indispensable," he said.

The commission also wants a faster approval process to get new drugs to market faster, as happened with Covid vaccines.

And it is suggesting a measure to force companies to be more transparent about the stocks of drugs they have, so that any looming shortfalls can be tackled earlier on.

For Pauline Londeix, co-founder of OTMeds, a French group monitoring levels of transparency on drugs policies, "a centralised system of alerts on shortages goes in the right direction but is not enough in itself".

She argues that the EU should consider "coordinated action at the European level for the part-public production of essential medicines".

UK children receiving food aid spikes to over one million: charity

AFP
Tue, April 25, 2023 


More than a million children in the UK received food aid in the past 12 months, an increase of 300,000 from a year earlier, as the country battles a cost of living crisis, latest figures showed Wednesday.

Out of the nearly three million food parcels distributed in the year to the end of March 2023, more than 1.1 million went to children, according to the Trussell Trust charity which supports some 1,200 food banks nationwide.

The number of emergency packages going to children the previous year was over 800,000, it said. In 2017-18 the figure was less than 500,000.

The figures come as the UK -- a G7 member and one of the world's richest countries -- grapples with the biggest surge in prices in decades with fuel, heating and food and housing costs all soaring.

Food banks have become a feature of life as increasing costs combined with wage stagnation have pushed many to seek help for the first time -- even those in work.

"We are experiencing an unprecedented rise in the number of people coming to the food bank, particularly employed people who are no longer able to balance a low income against rising living costs," said Brian Thomas, chief executive of South Tyneside food bank in northeast England.

"We're also seeing a really high number of families needing support as people struggle to afford the essentials."

- Under strain -

The cost-of-living crisis has seen sectors across the economy from doctors, nurses and teachers to dock workers and lawyers strike in the past year.

Thomas added that the situation had hit donations as more people struggled to meet basic costs for themselves.

"Food donation levels are not keeping up with the significant increase in need and this is putting us under a lot of strain, it's a real pressure cooker situation for food banks," he added.

Emma Revie, chief executive of the Trussell Trust, said food banks were set up to provide short-term support to people in an emergency but had now become the norm for low-paid workers and people receiving welfare payments.

"They are not a lasting solution to hunger and poverty, and more than three quarters of the UK population agree with us that they should not need to exist," she said.

The Trussell Trust is urging the Conservative government to increase welfare payments to a more realistic level so that they cover essential costs.

The current chairman of the Conservative party, Lee Anderson, has sparked outrage by saying that people struggling with rising prices should budget better and questioned whether food poverty was real.

According to the charity's figures, more than 760,000 people used a food bank for the first time in the past 12 months -- a 38 percent increase on the previous year.

har/phz/giv

TOXIC MASCULINITY

'Be a Real Man': Russian Army Launches Recruitment Drive

April 25, 2023 
Agence France-Presse

A billboard promoting contract army service and reading "Our job, defending the homeland" sits on the outskirts of Moscow on April 24, 2023.

MOSCOW —

A slick new video that has gone viral on Russian social media platforms shows a taxi driver, a security guard and a fitness coach at work.

"Did you really dream of being this kind of defender?" the footage released by the Russian defense ministry says.

The video, set to dramatic music, then depicts armed men in full combat gear walking across a battlefield in thick fog.

"You're a real man! Be one!" says the ad, encouraging Russians to sign a contract with the defense ministry.

A man walks in front of a poster promoting contract army service and reading "Our job, defending the homeland" in Moscow on April 12, 2023.

Moscow has launched an aggressive military recruitment campaign complete with videos and ubiquitous billboards as Kyiv gears up for a counter-offensive after months of stalemate in eastern Ukraine.

"Our job is defending the motherland," reads one of the billboards in the capital, showing three soldiers under a big blue sky.

"An honorable job and a decent salary," says another slogan.

New Russian Campaign Tries to Entice Men to Fight in Ukraine

Last September, President Vladimir Putin announced a "partial" military mobilization — Russia's first since World War II — sending shockwaves across the country and prompting tens of thousands to flee.

Unwilling to announce a second mobilization drive, Moscow has instead opted for a massive PR campaign, hoping to lure Russians with financial incentives.

Tapping into macho culture

The authorities have not disclosed their target but various estimates say Moscow could be trying to recruit 400,000 volunteers.

"The authorities are almost certainly seeking to delay any new, overt mandatory mobilization for as long as possible to minimize domestic dissent," British military intelligence said this week.

Those who sign a contract with the Russian defense ministry are promised a monthly salary of at least 204,000 rubles ($2, 450).

A notice on the Moscow mayor's website specifies that servicemen will be paid "at least 204,000 rubles" in "the zone of the special military operation", the Kremlin's official term for the offensive in Ukraine.

Those who take part in offensives are promised a daily bonus of 8,000 rubles (around $100) and at least 50,000 rubles (around $615) for capturing or destroying enemy weapons and military equipment.

Some praised the recruitment drive.

"In Russia, this is a good amount to support your family, and even your parents," Pyotr Lipka, a 21-year-old student from the southern city of Volgograd, told AFP.

"This makes sense: if a person defends his motherland, why shouldn't he get paid?" Lipka said, adding that signing a contract was better than being mobilized.

A billboard promoting contract army service and reading "Serving Russia is the real job" sits in Saint Petersburg on April 23, 2023.

The PR campaign in support of the army builds on Russia's macho culture, promoting the image of a "real man" as strong and patriotic.

Last year, the authorities admitted embarrassing mistakes in their troop call-up for Ukraine, after some public outrage over students, older or sick people being mistakenly ordered to report for duty.

Russia's Year of War: Purge of Critics, Surge of Nationalism

'Avoiding a new shock'

Yevgeny Krapivin, 41, served as a professional soldier when Russia fought Chechen separatists in 1999-2002 and would like to sign up again to fight in Ukraine.

He said recruitment officers first turned him away, pointing to his age. "Then they told me: 'Wait. You can get a call at any moment'," he told AFP in central Moscow. "I am ready."

The launch of the new recruitment drive has coincided with preparations for May 9 celebrations marking the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, which has reached a cult status under Putin.

This month Putin approved a controversial bill to create a digital draft system that could stop men from leaving the country.

Putin Signs Bill Allowing Electronic Conscription Notices

Kremlin critics say the bill will greatly facilitate mobilizing men to fight and clamp down on those avoiding the draft as the assault on Ukraine stretches into a second year.

Political observers say the Kremlin is keen to keep a tight lid on social discontent in Russia as economic troubles mount.

After a Year of Sanctions, Moscow Tries to Appear Normal

"Authorities clearly want to avoid a new shock, a new stress for society," Denis Volkov, head of independent pollster Levada Centre, told AFP, referring to a military mobilization.

"And they've opted for a different scenario: to recruit volunteers," he said.

A poster promoting contract army service and reading "Our job, defending the homeland" adorns the door of a shop, with the U.S. embassy seen on the left, in central Moscow on April 22, 2023.

The campaign could be successful, especially in Russia's small, poverty-stricken towns, he added.

The new approach seemed to be working, Volkov said.

"We are not seeing any of the panic that there was in autumn," he said.

"No one is queueing up to go across the border."

Massie, 18 Democrats vote against resolution to honor US-Israel relationship, expand Abraham Accords

Mahmoud Illean/Associated Press

Israeli authorities project an image of the Israeli and U.S. flags on the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City in honor of July Fourth, Monday, July 4, 2022.


BY MYCHAEL SCHNELL - 04/25/23 - THE HILL

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and 18 House Democrats on Tuesday voted against a resolution that honored the U.S.-Israeli relationship on Israeli Independence Day and expressed support for expanding and strengthening the Abraham Accords — the 2020 agreement establishing diplomatic ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

The resolution — which had bipartisan sponsorship — cleared the chamber in a 401-19 vote. This year marks 75 years since Israel declared its independence.

Massie, who frequently votes against legislation pertaining to international matters, was the only Republican to oppose the measure.

“Ultimately it didn’t make sense for me to vote for a bill that praises the foreign aid that I’ve voted against for the past ten years,” he said in a statement.

He was joined by 18 Democrats, 17 of whom are members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Progressives who voted against the measure included Reps. Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.), Cori Bush (Mo.), Andre Carson (Ind.), Mark DeSaulnier (Calif.), Jesús “Chuy” García (Ill.), Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.), Jared Huffman (Calif.), Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Hank Johnson (Ga.), Summer Lee (Pa.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Mark Pocan (Wis.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), Delia Ramirez (Ill.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) and Nydia Velázquez (N.Y.).

Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), who is not a member of the Progressive Caucus, also opposed the resolution.

It was not immediately clear why the House Democrats voted against the legislation. But progressives have regularly criticized the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians, particularly under the tenure of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

According to Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, resolutions similar to the one brought up on Tuesday have been introduced every five years to mark Israel’s Independence Day, known as Yom Ha’atzmaut. This year’s version, however, reportedly broke with previous editions because it did not reference a two-state solution.

The measure considered on Tuesday specifically calls for “encouraging the expansion and strengthening of the Abraham Accords to urge other nations to normalize relations with Israel and ensure that existing agreements reap tangible security and economic benefits for the citizens of those countries and all peoples in the region.”

The Abraham Accords, signed under the Trump administration, normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, making Abu Dhabi the first Arab country to establish relations with Tel Aviv in more than two decades. Bahrain also signed onto the accords after pronouncements from Sudan and Morocco to strengthen relations with Israel.

The resolution also said the House encourages Washington and Tel Aviv “to continue to deepen and expand bilateral cooperation” on economic, security and civilian matters. It “expresses continued support for security assistance to Israel as outlined in the United States-Israel Memorandum of Understanding to ensure that Israel can defend itself by itself.”

Additionally, the resolution stated that the House “supports Israel’s robust involvement as an active member of the community of nations to benefit Israel and the United States as partners who share common values and a commitment to democracy.”

The resolution’s sponsors hailed House approval of the measure.

“The United States and Israel have stood together as partners since Israel’s founding 75 years ago to overcome shared challenges and global threats,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement. “Together, we’ve achieved major milestones, such as the signing of the historic Abraham Accords. I look forward to continuing the longstanding tradition of friendship and partnership between our two countries.”Woman pleads guilty in ‘Killer Clown’ caseThese are the GOP lawmakers to watch in debt fight

Rep. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.) highlighted the history of the “extraordinary and enduring alliance” between Washington and Tel Aviv.

“For 75 years, the United States and Israel have built an extraordinary and enduring alliance based on our shared interests and fundamental values. Together, our two countries have championed democracy, partnered on technological achievements, increased regional security, and celebrated our shared fundamental values,” Manning said.

“On the 75th anniversary of Israel’s independence, I’m proud of the accomplishments our countries have achieved together, including the historic Abraham Accords, and I look forward to strengthening both the historic, bipartisan U.S. Israel relationship, and a two-state solution in the years to come,” she added.

Robert Reich urges secretaries of state to refuse to put Trump’s name on 2024 ballots

BY LAUREN SFORZA -THE HILL -  04/24/23 5

Robert Reich, labor secretary under former President Clinton, urged secretaries of state to refuse to put former President Trump’s name on 2024 ballots, saying Trump “committed treason.”

In an opinion piece published in The Guardian, Reich argued Trump violated the Constitution by participating in an insurrection against the country, referencing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. He wrote that Trump’s reported attempts to pressure state officials to “change their tallies,” to persuade former Vice President Pence to not certify the election results and his calls for his supporters to march on the Capitol were all examples of “treason.”

“This, my friends, is treason,” he said.

“But Trump is running for reelection, despite the explicit language of section three of the 14th amendment to the constitution, which prohibits anyone who has held public office and who has engaged in insurrection against the United States from ever again serving in public office,” Reich continued.

Reich argued that the former president tried to change the results of the election in 2020, and questioned what would stop Trump form attempting the same moves in 2024. He said that the chances of him trying to overturn the election are “greater now” than before because Trump has more supporters in local and state governments.

He said that while the recently passed Electoral Count Reform Act, which is an update to the Electoral Count Act of 1887, covers some legal concerns, Trump may still find a way to influence the results of the election. He said that it is up to the secretaries of state to determine whether Trump should be on the ballot.

“Secretaries of state — who in most cases are in charge of deciding who gets on the ballot – must refuse to place Donald Trump’s name on the 2024 ballot, based on the clear meaning of section three of the 14th amendment to the US constitution,” he concluded.Woman pleads guilty in ‘Killer Clown’ caseThese are the GOP lawmakers to watch in debt fight

Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement to The Hill that it is “sad” some individuals want to keep people from voting for the former president.

“What these un-democratic organizations and individuals are doing is blatant election interference and tampering,” Cheung said. “They are not even trying to hide it anymore and it is sad they want to deprive the American people of choosing Donald Trump — the overwhelming front runner by far — as their President. History will not judge them kindly and they will have to answer for their desecration of the Constitution.”

CAPITALI$T CRISIS IS CLIMATE CRISIS

Drought threatens Panama Canal shipping traffic

Wednesday, 26 April, 2023 

Drought has forced Panama's authorities to reduce shipping traffic in the canal that links the Atlantic and Pacific as a water supply crisis threatens the future of this crucial waterway.

Two artificial lakes that feed the canal in the province of Colon have been depleted by lack of rain.

"This Lake Alhajuela has less water every day," Leidin Guevara, 43, who fishes in the lake, told AFP.

The Panamanian Canal Authority (ACP) has limited the largest ships passing through the canal for the fifth time during this drought season.

Some six percent of global maritime shipping passes through the canal, mostly from the United States, China and Japan.

Rain water is the energy source used in the Panama Canal to move ships through locks, up to as much as 26 meters above sea level.

The passage of each boat involves 200 million liters of fresh water flowing into the sea, which makes the Alhajuela and Gatun lakes vital.

According to the ACP, between March 21 and April 21, the Alhajuela level fell by seven meters -- more than 10 percent.

"The lack of rains impacts in various ways, firstly in the reduction in our water reserves," Erick Cordoba, the ACP water manager, told AFP.

That affects the canal's business with the largest vessels, which pay the highest fees, prevented from passing through, added Cordoba.

In the 2022 fiscal year more than 14,000 ships carrying 518 million tons of cargo passed through the canal, contributing $2.5 billion to the Panamanian treasury.

- 'Vital to find new water sources' -

Alarm bells were already set off in 2019 when the fresh water supplies dropped to just three billion cubic meters, some way short of the 5.25 billion needed to operate the canal.

Authorities fear that this operational uncertainty could lead some shipping companies to favor other routes, thus heightening the need to find solutions to guarantee the canal's operations over the long term.

Canal administrator Ricaurte Vasquez recently acknowledged to Panamanian website SNIP Noticias that water shortage was the main threat to shipping in the canal.

"Without a new reservoir that brings new volumes of water, this situation will remove the Canal's capacity to grow," former administrator Jorge Quijano told AFP.

"It is vital to find new water sources, especially faced with the climate change we are seeing, not just in our country but all over the world."

The Panama Canal basin also supplies water to more than half of the country's 4.3 million population.

The shortages have caused water supply problems in several parts of the country, provoking numerous protests.

Experts warn that water conflicts could arise between the canal and local populations given the disorderly urban sprawl developing around Panama City.

"We don't want to engage in a philosophical conflict over water for Panamanians or water for international commerce," said Vasquez.

The canal has suffered from "a lack of rain as we have had in the whole country, but within the parameters of what is a normal dry period," Luz de Calzadilla, general manager at Panama's meteorology and hydrology institute, told AFP.

However, the El Nino climate phenomenon will likely reduce rainfall in the second half of the year, added De Calzadilla.

"The truth is that the Canal administration is working magic to maintain business and fulfill a social responsibility such as drinking water for human consumption."

That is no solace to those facing water shortages on Lake Alhajuela.

"This year has been the most difficult I've seen for drought," said Guevara.

AMERIKA

Crisis experts: Lack of preparedness, coordination fueled unraveling of pandemic response

BY JOSEPH CHOI - 04/25/23 

AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File
A nurse prepares for a COVID-19 test outside the Salt Lake County Health Department, Dec. 20, 2022, in Salt Lake City. The declaration of a COVID-19 public health emergency three years ago changed the lives of millions of Americans by offering increased health care coverage, beefed up food assistance and universal access to coronavirus vaccines and tests.

A coalition of experts in a newly published report found that the U.S. health care system was uniquely disadvantaged when it came to handling the COVID-19 pandemic, concluding the system was too divided, outdated and disorganized to efficiently take on the crisis.

The Covid Crisis Group, an organization formed in 2021 to map the landscape of the pandemic, published its report “Lessons from the Covid War: An Investigative Report” this week, laying out a retrospective analysis of the outbreak.

In the report, the members of the Covid Crisis Group identified 10 lessons to take away from the pandemic as the U.S. approaches the end of its national public health emergency. Among these lessons were systemic issues that hampered the national response to what the group referred to as the “Covid war.”

While acknowledging “wondrous scientific knowledge” that was available to stakeholders, the group determined that “bad governance” stood in the way of applying said knowledge.

As noted in the report, the federal government’s Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) ran several exercises testing for pandemic preparedness about a year before the pandemic. The tests were called Crimson Contagion.

The exercises, however, did not account for asymptomatic spread and assumed that medicines to treat the outbreak would be immediately available, the group found.

On top of a lack of preparedness, experts from the group said that the U.S. had a 19th-century health care infrastructure that was not enough to address 21st-century problems like SARS-CoV-2.

“The CDC lives and breathes inside the old bones of the original 19th-century design. It was not ready to manage a national health emergency. It was never built to do that. It has neither the authority nor the readiness to play such a role,” they said in a statement.

The “patchwork” quilt of the U.S. health care landscape, with private and public health organizations lacking clear communication, also caused guidance on the pandemic to lag, according to the report.

These issues that affected the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic predated the Trump administration, the nonpartisan organization determined.

US aided Venezuelan opposition leader’s secret flight to Florida

Tuberville blocks Warren’s attempt to begin advancing 184 military promotions

“Contrary to media stories, the federal government had no real playbook for how to contain the pandemic. It had ‘programs.’ It did not have preparedness,” they wrote. “It had, for example, no readiness to partner with private industry to make tests, no strategy for how to use the tests it had, and no structure to bring the FDA on board with what strategy it had.”

The organization’s final lesson learned from the pandemic was that preparation is key and the U.S. “must do better next time. Because there will be a next time.”

“The pandemic has been one of the major mass traumas suffered by humanity during the last one hundred years. Yet there remains a significant gap between the size of the crisis and the scale of the reforms. None of the reforms enacted thus far would have made a difference had they been in place in 2019. This report hopes to change that.”