North America
A People’s Vaccine? Drugmakers Set to Profit from COVID Vaccines Made with Publicly Funded Research
AMY GOODMAN: With the world pinning its hopes on a successful coronavirus vaccine to curb the pandemic, corporate watchdogs say much of the research and development of the medicines rely on publicly funded research. “The investment in these vaccines, as for most drugs, has really been underwritten by the… »
Top 10 Reasons to Reject Blinken
Antony Blinken is not the Secretary of State the United States or the world needs, and the U.S. Senate should reject his nomination. Here are 10 reasons: 1. A president elect who has been part of every disastrous war for decades should not be nominating for Secretary of… »
From ‘Alarming Red Flag’ to ‘Something We Can Work With,’ Campaigners Respond to Kerry as Biden Climate Envoy
“This is an encouraging commitment, but it is not enough.” By Andrea Germanos President-elect Joe Biden said Monday that former Secretary of State John Kerry would serve as his Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, an announcement that provoked a range of responses from climate campaigners—many who broadly saw the pick… »
Why Biden Will Keep the U.S.-Imposed Cold War Rolling
By Vijay Prashad Much will certainly change in the world of U.S. foreign policy when Joe Biden enters the White House. There will be a more measured tone, and less reliance upon Twitter to announce U.S. policy. Trump is brusque, as illustrated by the way he shoved aside Montenegro’s… »
Science, or nuclear fiction?
Biden-Harris must reject the nuclear path Although possibly a sad comment on his predecessors, incoming U.S. president, Joe Biden, is offering the most progressive climate policy so far of any who have previously held his position. As Paul Gipe points out in his recent… »
COVID-19 vaccine update: Pfizer may be the frontrunner, but Canada has hedged its bets
Pfizer and BioNTech have surprised the world, and given it hope, with the preliminary results of the Phase 3 clinical trial of their coronavirus vaccine. They announced on Nov. 9 that the early analysis of the data from the Phase 3 clinical trial, which is still ongoing, showed the… »
Martha Hennessy, Kings Bay Plowshares Anti-Nuclear Weapons Activist Sentenced
Martha Hennessy, the sixth of the Kings Bay Plowshares defendants to be sentenced, was ordered to serve 10 months incarceration as well as three years supervised probation and restitution. This was a downward departure from the guidelines of 18 to 24 months recommended by the probation department. Conducting the sentencing… »
Lost Causes, from the Confederacy to Trump
President Donald Trump has embarked on a lost cause akin to that embraced by Southerners after the Confederacy was crushed. That historical “Lost Cause” falsely posited that the U.S. Civil War was fought not to defend slavery, but, rather, to preserve states’ rights and their cherished Southern way of life. »
America—and the Democrats—Won’t Have a Future If Joe Biden Adopts a Centrist Agenda
It is up to the Democratic president-elect to ensure the future of both his party and the nation. Moving to the right, or even the center, will do neither. By Sonali Kolhatkar President-elect Joe Biden has called the November 2020 U.S. election a “battle for the soul… »
Pentagon Leadership Reshuffle Prompts Fears of “Slow Moving Trump Coup”
Former Pentagon officials are expressing alarm over President Trump’s firing of Defense Secretary Mark Esper and the purge of other top officials at the Pentagon and National Security Agency following the election. Former Secretary of Defense William Cohen said Trump’s conduct is “more akin to a dictatorship than a democracy.”… »