31 August 20
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Bernie Sanders | Joe Biden
Bernie Sanders, Reader Supported News
Sanders writes: "Yes. These are crazy times. We're dealing with a pandemic, an economic meltdown, the struggle for racial justice and we're seeing the destruction caused by climate change in Iowa, California, Louisiana and Texas. But, in the midst of all of this, we have got to remain focused, focused, focused."
In 65 days the most important election in modern American history will be taking place and we have got to defeat Donald Trump. We have got to defeat him not only because he is a pathological liar, because he rejects science and because he is a racist and a xenophobe. We have got to defeat him because he is undermining American democracy and is rapidly moving this country into an authoritarian type of society, something we may never recover from.
In terms of defeating Trump, one of the issues that has not gotten the attention that it deserves is the real contrast that exists between Trump's economic agenda and the economic proposals being supported by Joe Biden. At a time when our country is struggling with the worst economic meltdown since the great depression, this is an issue of enormous consequence for tens of millions of working class families.
Let me be clear. Biden's economic agenda is not mine and does not go as far as I, and many of you, wish it would. But, on the other hand, at a time of massive and growing income and wealth inequality there is no question but that his proposals are strong and will go a long, long way toward improving life for working families.
Yesterday, I made an important speech about this issue on our social media channels. Let me summarize here what I said about Joe's plans for the economy.
Minimum Wage
When Joe Biden is president, he will increase the federal minimum wage from a starvation wage of $7.25 an hour to a living wage of $15 an hour. And let’s be clear: When we increase that minimum wage to $15 an hour we will be raising the wages of more than 40 million workers.
Unions
Joe Biden also knows that if we are going to expand the middle class in this country, we must make it easier for workers to join unions, engage in collective bargaining and end the heavy-handed corporate tactics that make it hard for workers to unionize in America.
Infrastructure
And here's something else that Joe Biden understands. And that is that, in the midst of the worst economic crisis in our lifetimes, we need to create millions of good-paying jobs through a massive investment in rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure — our roads, bridges, sidewalks, schools, water systems and affordable housing.
Paid Family and Medical Leave
Like most of us, Joe Biden is embarrassed that the United States is the only major nation on earth not to guarantee paid medical and family leave. That’s why Joe has proposed at least 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave for working families.
Childcare
And when we talk about babies and young children, we all know that our current childcare system is totally inadequate. Our children and their parents deserve high-quality, reliable and affordable childcare. That’s why Joe has proposed universal pre-K education for every 3- and 4-year-old in the country.
Colleges
And when we talk about making sure that we have the best educated workforce in the world, Joe understands that we need to make public colleges, universities and trade schools tuition-free for working families.
Prescription Drugs
As some of you may recall, last year I traveled to Canada with a group of diabetics to buy insulin, a life and death drug for more than 30 million Americans. And here's what we found. You can buy insulin in Canada, a few miles from our border, for 1/10th the price that it is sold here. No. You didn't mishear me. The same product, made by the same company, is sold for 1/10th the price that it's sold here. But it's not just Canada and it’s not just insulin. While the drug companies, through their collusion, price fixing and greed, make obscene profits, we pay by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. Joe Biden understands that we must take on the pharmaceutical industry and significantly lower drug prices in this country.
Health Care
As many of you know the United States is the only major country not to guarantee health care for all people. Meanwhile, despite paying almost twice as much per capita for health care as the people of other countries, over 90 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured and over half a million Americans go bankrupt because they cannot afford to pay their medical bills.
While Joe and I disagree on the best path to get to universal coverage, his proposal will greatly expand access to health care and make it more affordable for tens of millions across this country.
My friends, of course many of us wish our campaign would have won the Democratic primary. But now our first priority must be to defeat Donald Trump, the most dangerous president in modern American history.
Then, on Day 1 of the Biden administration, we will mobilize the working families of this country to demand a government that represents all of us and not just the few.
So I am asking you today to do something important — because Donald Trump and the Republican Party would love nothing more than to divide our supporters up as people start to vote. And the truth is, the corporate media would love nothing more than to write stories about how we are not united in the fight to beat Trump.
So I am asking:
Add your name: help me send a message that you are committed to voting to defeat Donald Trump this November. This is important. <https://act.berniesanders.com/signup/defeating-trump/?source=em200830-1-15&refcode2=8299.369448.Wbzhia&akid=8299%2E369448%2EWbzhia>
We live in the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, but that reality means very little because almost all of that wealth is controlled by a tiny handful of individuals.
This November we take the first step to turn that around and to create a government that works for all of us, and not just the 1 percent.
In solidarity, Bernie Sanders
On Saturday night, a caravan of supporters of President Trump traveled through Portland, Ore., and clashed with counterprotesters. A man was shot and killed during the unrest. (photo: Mason Trinca/NYT)
Portland Clashes: Trump Accused of Encouraging Violence After Shooting
Ed Pilkington and Joanna Walters, Guardian UK
Excerpt: "Portland mayor Ted Wheeler on Sunday slammed Donald Trump, accusing the president of encouraging the kind of violence that erupted in the city overnight when a reported member of a rightwing group was shot dead after a group of Trump supporters confronted Black Lives Matter protesters."
“What America needs is for you to be stopped,” Wheeler said of Trump, after the president tore into Wheeler on Twitter in the hours after the death and retweeted video footage of his supporters in trucks firing paintballs and pepper spray at protesters downtown.
His sentiments were echoed in a statement by Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in which he unequivocally condemned violence on all sides, while accusing Trump of “recklessly encouraging” it.
“He may believe tweeting about law and order makes him strong — but his failure to call on his supporters to stop seeking conflict shows just how weak he is,” Biden’s statement on Sunday said.
It wasn’t clear if the shooting was linked to fights that broke out as some from the procession of about 600 vehicles, many flying large “Trump 2020” flags, revved and honked their way through narrow downtown streets, seeming to taunt protesters in the cityon Saturday night. Some of the demonstrators threw objects in response, especially after paintballs were fired towards the sidewalks.
Later, an Associated Press freelance photographer heard three gunshots and then observed police medics working on the body of the victim, who appeared to be a white man.
Portland police officers “responded and located a victim with a gunshot wound to the chest. Medical officials responded and determined that the victim was deceased,” the department stated.
According to police, the shooting happened at 8.46pm local time on Saturday. A video that appears to have captured the incident, taken from the other side of the street, shows a man wearing shorts approaching a car parking garage. Shots ring out and the man falls to the ground.
Later it was reported that the man had been wearing a Patriot Prayer hat bearing the logo of a rightwing group.
Some outlets have reported the identity of the victim, but his name was unconfirmed by the authorities late on Sunday afternoon.
Joey Gibson, head of the Washington State-based rightwing group, whose supporters have intermittently clashed with left-wing protesters in Portland, said the man killed was a “good friend.”
Trump repeatedly tweeted criticism of Wheeler on Sunday.
Trump also dangled the national guard, which the White House normally authorizes on the request of a state governor, together with a third-party tweet criticizing Wheeler, who said on Sunday afternoon he had never met the president.
Wheeler said at a press conference on Sunday afternoon: “President Trump, for four years we have had to live with you and your racist attacks on Black people. We learned early about your sexist attitudes towards women … we have listened to your attacks on immigrants ... do you seriously wonder that America in decades has not seen this level of violence?”
Wheeler, a Democrat, said his heart was heavy over the tragedy in the city overnight, and protests that have splintered on the fringes into sporadic violent unrest.
He urged “those seeking retribution” for the death of the man overnight not to come to Portland, blaming outside forces for coming into the city to foment violence.
And he spoke of plans for reforms to criminal justice, education, housing and health access in the city that he implored people to vote on and for groups to come together, saying he would “reach across any aisle” to stop the violence and start dialogue.
California Democratic congresswoman Karen Bass said on Sunday morning that Trump’s tweets about Portland and his plan to visit Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the aftermath of a white police officer shooting a gravely wounding a Black man, as part of the president’s “law and order” election agenda would achieve the opposite objective, intentionally.
“He is going to do everything to disrupt law and order,” she told Dana Bash on CNN’s State of the Union politics talk show on Sunday.
“You saw in Portland Trump supporters actively shooting paintballs at protesters. Trump encourages that,” she added.
Portland has been the site of nightly protests for more than three months since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Hundreds have been arrested by local and federal law enforcement and, before the shooting, police made several arrests Saturday and advised residents to avoid downtown.
The chaotic scene came two days after Trump invoked Portland as a liberal city overrun with violence in a speech at the Republican national convention as part of his “law and order” re-election campaign theme. The caravan marked the third Saturday in a row that Trump supporters have rallied in the city.
The latest caravan convened after a group on Facebook had called on Trump supporters to convene in the city under the banner “Trump 2020 Cruise Rally in Portland”.
The caravan of Trump supporters had gathered earlier in the day at a nearby mall and drove as a group to the heart of Portland. As they arrived in the city, bearing large “Trump 2020” flags on the sides of their vehicles, protesters attempted to stop them by standing in the street and blocking bridges.
Videos from the scene showed sporadic fighting, as well as Trump supporters firing paintball pellets at opponents and using bear spray as counter-protesters threw things at the Trump caravan.
“There have been some instances of violence between demonstrators and counter-demonstrators,” Portland police said via Twitter. “Officers have intervened and in some cases made arrests.”
The Black Lives Matter demonstrations usually target police buildings and federal buildings. Some protesters have called for reductions in police budgets while the city’s mayor and some in the Black community have decried the violence, saying it is counterproductive.
LeBron James at the White House with then President Barack Obama in 2013. (photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Obama Advised NBA Players to Push for Social Justice Initiatives and Get Back in the Game
Ishena Robinson, The Root
Robinson writes: "Advice from former President Barack Obama helped NBA athletes make their recent decision to return to the playoffs, alongside a suite of social justice initiatives from the organization, days after the Milwaukee Bucks launched an impromptu strike in response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake."
READ MORE
Chadwick Boseman. (photo: CNN)
Chadwick Boseman in His Own Words
James Doubek, NPR
Doubek writes: "In his movie roles, Chadwick Boseman was praised for bringing dignity and humanity to icons in the fight for racial justice - figures like Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall and James Brown. He also inspired millions as the superhero Black Panther."
READ MORE
Commuters wearing protective masks sit inside a bus while waiting at the Union Square stop in New York in June. (photo: Bloomberg/Getty Images)
Public Transit Faces 'Death Spiral' Without $32 Billion Injection From Congress
Miranda Bryant, Guardian UK
Bryant writes: "America faces a mobility crisis that will have 'profound' implications - especially for those on low incomes and people of color - if Congress does not step in to fill the nation's $32 billion public transport funding gap, experts have warned."
Looming public transport cuts caused by the pandemic could have far-ranging repercussions, including on people’s ability to vote in November, and inflict damage to services that will take years to recover from.
It comes after public transport use dropped by as much as 90% across the country as a result of the pandemic, almost obliterating fare revenue. Many systems have also lost sales tax.
Congress provided $25bn funding in April as part of the Cares Act, but for many financially struggling systems that help is already running out. Transport leaders have requested a further $32bn, but currently there is no package in place, which is expected to lead to significant cuts.
Beth Osborne, director of the advocacy group Transportation for America, said: “The implications for folks who have no choice but to take transit, are losing transit as a reliable and frequent option, it can be profound in so many ways.”
She added: “You cut transit, it impacts low-income populations and we know that that is made up of a very large share of people of color. So it’s a very direct line.”
The majority of people who use public transport in the US, 60%, are people of color, according to a 2017 report by the American Public Transport Association (APTA). Just under a quarter are African American.
Osborne said as the economic impact of the pandemic continues to hit, loss of unemployment benefit, evictions and inability to pay for vehicles could lead to growing numbers of people depending on public transport. “So you’re actually looking at a rising population of transit-dependent people at the same time as you’re looking at cutting transit service,” she said.
Coronavirus has “exacerbated” a mobility crisis that was already under way in the US, said Alex Engel, a spokesman for National Association of City Transportation Officials (Nacto).
“We already had a mobility crisis where communities of color, older people, lower-income people already had much more trouble reaching access and opportunities. Unfortunately what we’re seeing now is that these communities are being even more impacted,” he added. “They have the highest infection rate, they have the highest reliance on transit, they’re the most likely to be essential workers, they’re the most likely to need to go to get medical care.”
Funding from the relief package has already run out in New York, and San Francisco has cut over half its bus lines. Engel predicted that “a dozen or more cities” will also run dry by the end of the year.
The resulting situation from the cancelled services is referred to a “transit death spiral” – where cuts lead to raised fares and in turn fewer people using public transport.
Jamaine Gooding, an urban planner and bus organising fellow for Active Transportation Alliance, has seen public transport use in Chicago plunge since the pandemic hit. But he said for those that depend on it, particularly people from black and Latino communities, it has become slower, less reliable and there are fears over Covid-19 safety.
“Even though ridership has dipped, there are a lot of people, thousands of people, still relying on taking the bus to work, to the grocery store, to doctor’s appointments, just getting around the city still.”
If services are cut, he said it would have a huge impact on vulnerable communities, workers and disabled people – preventing people from getting to work on time and reducing trust during a pandemic.
Voting experts said any cuts to public transport could also have a significant impact on people’s ability to get to the polls in November – especially on top of existing potential barriers such as the pandemic, unemployment and confusion over postal voting.
Sophia Lin Lakin, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) voting rights project, said public transport cuts will have a “disproportionate effect” on people of color getting to the polls.
“Traditionally communities of color, and particularly black voters, have put a premium on voting in person. I imagine that will continue to hold true, even in the midst of the pandemic to a certain extent,” she said.
“What also is true is that when we’ve looked at the socioeconomic data on who has access to cars and who is relying on public transit to get from place to place – including to the polling locations that aren’t for example walkable – that it’s disproportionately voters of color who rely on such types of public transportation.”
She wants to see early voting options across the country, access to absentee and mail voting, widespread drop boxes, as many polling stations open as possible and following a precinct-based model so that voters do not have to travel far from home.
Dr Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, director of the Centre for Information and Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (Circle) at Tufts University, said for many young people, especially those from marginalized communities, not being able to use public transport to vote could be a “deal breaker” on election day.
Pre-pandemic, Circle analysis found that 29% of youth who registered but did not vote in 2016 cited transport as a reason for not voting and 15% said it was a major factor.
Kawashima-Ginsberg said public transport problems are more likely to pose an issue for Democratic voters, who “tend to come from younger, more people of color, economically disadvantaged communities”.
She fears people will realise too late that their nearby drop-off site or polling location is closed and that public transport isn’t available.
“Those are plenty [of reasons] for anybody to give up on voting. And that’s I guess how voter suppression works. But that’s the fear, that there’s going to be so many barriers that seem alone not so crazy but together seems sort of impossible, that they may end up not voting.”
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan announced his resignation at a news conference on Friday. (photo: Franck Robichon)
Shinzo Abe Is Ill. But Is That the Only Reason He's Quitting?
Koichi Nakano, The New York Times
Excerpt: "Will he ever face the Japanese people's calls for accountability?"
rime Minister Shinzo Abe’s announcement on Friday that he would resign because of poor health was a rather abrupt end for a supposedly strong leader. Mr. Abe has ruled Japan, most recently, for a record seven years and eight months: He is the country’s longest-serving prime minister.
The decision was a surprise — and yet it wasn’t.
A chronic illness was also the reason Mr. Abe cited when he suddenly resigned from his first stint as prime minister in 2007.
The matter of his health had surfaced again a couple of weeks ago when, after he underwent a medical checkup, a former minister and close associate of Mr. Abe’s publicly expressed concern that the prime minister was overworked and might have to be “forced” to get a few days’ rest.
A woman using an asthma inhaler. (photo: Getty Images)
What Climate Change Does to the Human Body
Neelu Tummala, Scientific American
Tummala writes: "The climate crisis is a public health issue, and we must start healing the planet in order to heal each other."
An ENT physician sees the effects in her patients all the time
he wildfire season is off to a roaring start. The hot summer is worsening drought and drying out vegetation—an unfortunately ideal environment for wildfires to rage. But that’s just one consequence of global warming; it’s also leading to flooding, torrential rainstorms and heat-related deaths. In fact, the climate crisis has led to a widespread public health crisis. And as an ear, nose and throat physician, I see the effects more and more often.
I vividly remember a patient who came in late for her appointment during a July heat wave. When I walked in, she said, “I’m so sorry I’m late, I was up all night walking my grandbaby around the train station.” Without air conditioning at home, the child was sweating through her clothes in the heat of the night, putting her at risk for dehydration.
July 2019 was the hottest July on record; September 2019 was the hottest on record; January 2020 was the hottest on record; May 2020 was the hottest on record. This is not a coincidence. It is a pattern. Carbon dioxide, an important greenhouse gas contributing to global warming, has increased by 9 percent since 2005 and by 31 percent since 1950. A U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change special report pointed out that the world has already warmed about one degree Celsius from pre-industrial levels. It stressed the urgency to act to limit warming to 1.5 degrees, and that a two-degree increase will lead to unprecedented extreme heat, water scarcity and food shortages around the globe.
Heat affects every part of our body. It can lead to heat exhaustion, heat stroke, anxiety, impaired cognitive function and even premature death from heart and lung disease. Across the country, the health concerns of the climate crisis are increasingly being recognized, pushing thousands of medical providers—doctors, nurses, pharmacists, therapists, medical students—to become advocates for change.
In my own practice, I explain to patients how the climate crisis affects their health. For example, apart from contributing to global warming, rising carbon dioxide levels increase the amount of pollen that plants produce as a consequence of higher rates of photosynthesis. This rise in pollen levels can lead to worsening allergy symptoms. Another example is fine particulate matter (known as PM2.5) associated with air pollution, much of it linked to the burning of fossil fuels that help drive the warming. When we breathe in these particles, they travel down the airway and settle in the tiny air sacs called alveoli of the lungs, causing inflammation and potentially worsening asthma symptoms. The explanations are simple, but the health risks are widespread and complex. Ground-level ozone pollution, which is worse in hotter weather, can also harm people with asthma and other respiratory diseases.
And that harm falls disproportionately on the poor. Wealthier people living in North America have a per capita carbon footprint that is 25 percent higher than those of lower-income residents, with some affluent suburbs producing emissions 15 times higher than nearby neighborhoods. These carbon emissions contribute to global warming, and the subsequent health consequences are felt far beyond the neighborhood that produces them. Older adults, children, low-income communities and communities of color are less resilient on average to the health impacts of climate change.
The climate crisis is thus leading to a disproportionate public health crisis—and worse, it is a threat multiplier. At a time when many Americans are economically challenged, continued heat waves and the higher energy bills they trigger threaten access to water and energy security. The economic benefits of a low-carbon economy are clear. Estimates suggest that without climate investments, the United States will face economic damage from climate change equivalent to 1–3 percent of GDP per year by 2100.
The majority of Americans think global warming is happening. The climate crisis has unfairly been labeled as political, when in fact, people recognize that something needs to be done about it. Even for those who are seemingly unaffected, there is increasing global recognition that the safeguards of living in a protected community and affording expert medical care will eventually fail if global warming continues unchecked. Unfortunately, there will be no vaccine in six months or a year for the climate crisis. The only treatment is collective climate action in the present.
Climate action is required of our elected leaders, and we must mandate it of ourselves. It can be as simple as educating family and friends, while making sustainable shopping and traveling choices. It includes eating less meat, unplugging electronics and raising a voice against the fossil fuel industry. With a rise in demand for absentee ballots for the election this November, it is crucial to request mail-in ballots right away to make sure our voices are heard. The United States is the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases, and we must vote for green policy. Legislative action and policy change work, as evidenced by the Clean Air Act and its subsequent amendments, which are projected to save 230,000 lives in 2020.
The climate crisis is a public health issue, and we must start healing the planet in order to heal each other. Fighting against the climate crisis is one of the most patriotic things we can do right now; it will protect our health and the health of our neighbors across the country and the globe, and will allow all of us to live on this planet, the only home we have.
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