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22 December 20
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2020 Exposed the Myth of American "Security"
Sarah Lazare, In These Times
Lazare writes: "If there's one central lesson to take from 2020, it's that the country with the most well-funded 'security state' in the world is also one of the least secure places on Earth."
The “security state” not only failed to keep us safe, but worsened the coronavirus pandemic and unleashed violence on the people hardest hit.
Facing a deadly pandemic that ravaged the globe, the United States leads the world in overall deaths, and is fourth in deaths per 100,000 people. Our cutting-edge, top-of-the-line, trillion-dollar “national security” apparatus was not only helpless in the face of an actual danger, but repeatedly made that danger far worse by foreclosing on a more humane social response — and unleashing violence on the very people hardest hit.
This horrific fact should be a wake up call that challenges the very premises of how we perceive “threats” and danger as we enter the 2020s.
The concept of “security” is an organizing principle behind how the U.S. government allocates public resources. The U.S. military budget is, by far, the most heavily funded in the world — larger than the military budgets of the next 10 countries combined. According to the National Priorities Project, in 2019, the military budget accounted for 53% of the entire federal discretionary budget, which Congress determines through the appropriations process every year. This percentage jumps considerably when you consider the “militarized” budget that encompasses spending on U.S. wars, imprisonment, the war on drugs and immigration crackdown (the National Priorities Project put the “militarized budget” at 64.5% of discretionary federal spending in 2019). Earlier this month, as unemployment soared and Americans waited in miles-long breadlines for food, Congress overwhelmingly passed a $740 billion National Defense Authorization Act for 2021. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D‑Calif.) praised the military budget from the House floor, saying it “strengthens our security.” (President Trump has threatened to veto the NDAA over key grievances, including his insistence on the inclusion of a provision prohibiting the renaming of military bases that give tribute to Confederate figures.)
Militarization trickles to the state and local levels, and is used to fund massive prison and law enforcement infrastructure. Roughly 0.7% of people in the United States are in local jail, or federal or state prison. As the Prison Policy Initiative notes, “If this number seems unworthy of the term ‘mass incarceration,’ consider that 0.7% is just shy of 1%, or one out of a hundred.” Like the U.S. military budget, this imprisonment apparatus is unrivaled globally: The United States accounts for less than 5% of the world’s population, but 20% of the world’s incarcerated population. Meanwhile, policing continues to account for a massive chunk of municipal budgets. According to Sludge’s June 2020 analysis of 473 U.S. cities, “spending on police takes up almost one-third of municipal budgets,” a number that climbs even higher in poor cities.
This spending, we are told over and over again, is necessary to protect Americans from danger. The primary role of the state, according to this framework, is to provide “security” — from a “foreign enemy,” “criminals,” or some “other” who allegedly poses an existential threat to the safety and wellbeing of Americans. Each of these institutions — prison systems, police departments, the U.S. military, the Department of Homeland Security — comes with its own well-funded press department that tells the public the danger is great, and their services are needed now more than ever. This message echoes from the highest echelons of U.S. political power, as demonstrated when Trump declared in March that Covid-19 is “our big war. It’s a medical war. We have to win this war. It’s very important.”
It’s important to make clear that the coronavirus pandemic wasn’t a “black swan” event — some act of god out of the blue that we couldn’t have possibly prepared for. Rather, it was predicted by health officials and scientists for years. Bill Gates even made a video about U.S. vulnerability to the pandemic for Vox in 2015. This wasn’t a random event, it was both predictable and banal in its inevitably. But there’s not a lot of money to be made by weapons contractors in boring pandemic preparations, nor is there a lot of new surveillance powers to be seized, so little funding went into pandemic prevention. Instead, emotionally charged fear mongering that fuels U.S. expansion and power — over the threat of “terrorism,” or the specter of Russian or Chinese global dominance — won the day and monopolized our “security” priorities. This is despite the fact that “terrorists” kill fewer people in the U.S. per year than furniture, and the military budgets of Russia and China are significantly smaller than that of the United States.
When it became clear the Covid-19 pandemic posed an existential threat to actual human beings, not only was this bloated security apparatus useless in protecting people, it became a vector of harm, measurably worsening the pandemic. The U.S.-Saudi military coalition continued bombing Yemen even as the outbreak raged, with Yemen’s medical system already devastated by more than five years of relentless war. According to the groups Physicians for Human Rights and Mwatana for Human Rights, there have been at least 120 attacks on medical facilities between March 2015 and the end of 2018, leaving the country especially ill-prepared to deal with the pandemic. The imperial U.S. apparatus, strengthened by its bloated military, imposed devastating sanctions in the midst of a pandemic, ratcheting them up in Iran as doctors begged for relief, because they were unable to get basic medical supplies to treat an exploding outbreak in the country. Now that there’s a Covid-19 vaccine, Iranian officials say maximum pressure sanctions are preventing them from purchasing the Covid-19 vaccine. The usual violence of U.S. militarism is now being unleashed on a world that is going through a devastating and globally interconnected crisis, where an outbreak anywhere affects people everywhere. The concept of “national security” begins to break down in the face of a crisis that’s fundamentally international.
Within the United States, the carceral system has proven to be one of the most harmful vectors of Covid-19 transmission. The Marshall Project and Associated Press jointly reported on December 18 that one in five people incarcerated in federal prisons has tested positive for Covid-19 — a rate four times greater than the general population. “In some states, more than half of prisoners have been infected,” the report notes, adding, “Nearly every prison system in the country has seen infection rates significantly higher than the communities around them.” People imprisoned in Kansas and Arkansas, for example, are eight times as likely to contract Covid-19 than their surrounding communities. The same holds true for people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): A study published in JAMA found that, from April to August 2020, the Covid-19 rate among people detained by ICE was 13 times greater than the general population. These outbreaks are not only dangerous and deadly for people who are locked up, but they spread the virus through broader society. In just one example, University of Chicago researchers found in June that Cook County Jail in Chicago is responsible for 15.7% of all documented Covid-19 cases in Illinois. Despite the measurable infections and deaths that spread through the U.S. incarceration system, local, state and federal officials have overwhelmingly resisted calls to free people from prison.
And then, of course, there are the police beatings and killings that have continued throughout the pandemic, disproportionately targeting Black people — the very population hit disproportionately hardest by Covid-19 deaths and economic devastation. People who took to the streets over the summer crying out for dignity, racial justice and the right to live were ruthlessly beaten by the same police departments equipped with our military’s “surplus” supplies, then thrown in Covid-19 infested jails. Yet Black Lives Matter protesters turned out again and again, forced to endanger their own safety in the middle of a pandemic to address the scourge of police violence.
The very institutions that we are told exist to keep Americans “safe” have, in fact, worsened the most dangerous and frightening pandemic of our lifetimes. And a government that prioritizes allocating funds to this “security” state has strangled the actual social programs that would have allowed us to mitigate and contain the harms of this crisis much more effectively. The best way to get the crisis under control would be to simply pay people to stay home — i.e. give them a way to pay rent, eat and avoid economic destitution while surviving the pandemic. But, from the beginning, the idea of robust monthly payments was ruled out by both Democratic and Republican leaders alike. Meanwhile, Medicare for All — a universal, single-payer healthcare system — has been declared out of bounds by an incoming Biden administration over “deficit” concerns, even as tens of millions of Americans are forced to go through the pandemic with no health insurance. Stimulus spending has brought some relief, including expanded unemployment insurance and one-off checks. But this relief spending has been a small pittance compared to what’s needed. A federal government that has no problem churning out massive military budgets year after year has not been able to come together to fund a genuine humanitarian response to the Covid-19 crisis that has left more than 300,000 people in the United States dead.
The same holds true for local governments that are hell-bent on keeping police budgets high, even during the pandemic. As Indigo Olivier reported for In These Times in July, “Faced with mass teacher layoffs, deep cuts to education and social services, and a looming eviction crisis, police budgets across the nation remain absurdly high and have been largely insulated from Covid-induced belt-tightening.” From Phoenix to San Diego to Louisville, Ky., numerous municipalities have even increased their annual police budgets in the middle of the pandemic, defying protesters’ demands to defund the police.
We are told repeatedly that the U.S. security state is the best institution for responding to social crises, whether it’s the pandemic, natural disasters, the social turmoil of poverty or the coming climate catastrophe. And with each new crisis, the security state is further fortified and bolstered, no matter how great its failures. This devastating year demands that we stop for a moment and ask why the preeminent security state in the world failed to protect its people from a great and pressing danger. And the only answer is that true “security” cannot be found in aerial bombardments or prison cells or police deployments: It must emanate from the exact opposite — a civilian, solidaristic response to social crises, premised on the principle that all our fates are bound together, and no one is dispensable.
Sen. Bernie Sanders. (photo: Jim Bourg/Reuters)
Bernie Sanders: COVID Relief Package Is "Totally Inadequate" for "Unprecedented" Economic Crisis
Democracy Now!
Excerpt: "As Congress is rushing to pass a new $900 billion coronavirus aid package, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is calling the new relief package 'totally inadequate, given the nature of the unprecedented crisis that we face.'"
MY GOODMAN: The House could be voting as soon as today on a new $900 billion coronavirus aid package, after a deal was reached by congressional leaders Sunday. While the legislative text has not yet been released, the package is expected to include $600 relief checks for qualified adults and children and a temporary $300 increase in weekly unemployment benefits. The bill is expected to extend a CDC moratorium on evictions until January 31st.
Many economists say a far larger stimulus package is needed to address the nation’s economic crisis. Last week, 885,000 people filed new claims for unemployment benefits — the highest weekly level in three months. Meanwhile, a new study shows at least 8 million Americans have been pushed into poverty since summer.
On Friday, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont spoke from the floor of the Senate and decried the aid deal as, quote, “totally inadequate.” He called for $1,200 emergency checks for every working-class adult and $500 per child.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: This country faces the worst set of public health and economic crises that we have faced in over a hundred years. As a result of the pandemic, more people are becoming infected than ever before, right now. Hospitalization is higher than it has ever been before, right now. And more people are dying than ever before, literally day after day.
Now, we all hope and pray that the new vaccine will be distributed as quickly as possible and that it will put an end to this nightmare. But today, the truth is that millions of low-income and middle-class families are suffering in a way that they have not suffered since the Great Depression of the ’30s.
Today, the reality is that over half of our workers are living paycheck to paycheck, trying to survive on a starvation wage of 10 or 12 bucks an hour. The reality is that millions of our senior citizens are trapped in their homes, unable to see their kids or their grandchildren, unable to go to a grocery store, and many of them are trying to get by on $12,000, $14,000 a year Social Security, and scared that they may come down with the virus and die. In addition, millions more with disabilities are suffering. Further, in our country today, one out of four workers are either unemployed or make less than $20,000 a year.
And in the midst of this pandemic, because we are the only major country on Earth not to guarantee healthcare to all people as a right, in the midst of this pandemic, worst healthcare crisis in a hundred years, over 90 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured and unable to go to a doctor when they need to.
Further, we have the worst eviction crisis in modern history, some 30 million families worried that because they cannot pay their rent, they may end up out on the street.
That is, Mr. President, where we are today economically. And if this country means anything, if democracy means anything, if the U.S. government means anything, it means that we cannot turn our backs on this suffering — not in Vermont, not in Wisconsin, not in New York, not in any state in this country, where people are hurting in an unprecedented way. …
Mr. President, members of Congress should also be aware that we are far behind other major countries in terms of protecting working families during this pandemic. Not only does every other wealthy country guarantee healthcare to all people as a human right, almost all of them are providing far more generous benefits to the unemployed and the struggling in their countries than we are doing in our country.
Mr. President, several months — Madam President, sorry — Madam President, several months ago I introduced legislation, along with Senator Kamala Harris, now our vice president-elect, and Senator Markey, that would during the course of this economic crisis provide $2,000 a month — $2,000 a month — to every working-class person in this country. And frankly, that is exactly what we should be doing. But, unfortunately, given the conservative nature of the Senate, I understand that is not going to happen.
Yet, at a time of massive wealth and income inequality, as Senator Schumer just indicated, at a time when huge corporations were making record-breaking profits, the Republican leadership here in the Senate was able to provide over a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the 1% and large corporations.
Yes, at a time when climate change — yes, climate change is real — at a time when climate change threatens the entire planet, this Congress was able to provide hundreds of billions of dollars in corporate welfare to the oil companies and the gas companies and the coal companies who are exacerbating the climate crisis.
Yes, just the other day, here in the Senate and in the House, legislation was passed which would provide $740 billion to the military, the largest military budget in history, more than the next 10 nations combined. We spend more on the military than the next 10 nations combined.
So, we could do all of those things — tax breaks for billionaires, massive corporate welfare, huge military expenditures — but in the midst of the worst economic meltdown since the Great Depression, somehow Congress is unable to respond effectively to the needs of working families. …
Madam President, as a result of the pandemic, the government told restaurants and bars, retail stores, movie theaters, schools, malls, small businesses all over this country, “Shut your doors. It is too dangerous for you to be open now.” And they did that because that is what the public health experts said was the right thing to do in order to control this horrific pandemic.
But what the government has not done, Madam President, is to provide the workers who lost their jobs and lost their incomes as a result of those shutdowns with the help that they need in order to pay their bills and to survive economically.
The $600 a week in supplemental unemployment benefits that Congress passed unanimously in March expired in July — over five months ago. And during that time, the Republican Senate has done nothing to help working families pay their rent, feed their children, go to a doctor or pay for the life-saving prescription drugs they need. And the Senate has not done anywhere near enough to provide help for the struggling small businesses, in Vermont and all across this country, who are desperately trying to stay afloat.
Further, Madam President, as bad as the economy has been in general, it has been far worse for African Americans and Latinos. During the pandemic, nearly 60% of Latino families and 55% of African American families have either experienced a job loss or a cut in pay.
Madam President, for nine months, we have asked tens of millions of working people in this country to survive on one $1,200 check — with no help for healthcare, no support for hazard pay, no assistance for rent relief. Absolutely nothing.
Meanwhile, Madam President, I should mention that over this same nine-month period, 651 billionaires in the United States became over a trillion dollars richer.
A trillion dollars in increased wealth for the very richest people in our country. One $1,200 check for tens of millions of Americans desperately trying to survive. That is unconscionable. That is immoral. And that has got to change. …
Madam President, in my view, the $348 billion in new money, that is included in the proposal now being discussed, is totally inadequate, given the nature of the unprecedented crises that we face. The American people cannot wait any longer. They need economic relief right now. Their kids are going hungry. They are being evicted from their homes. They can’t go to the doctor. They need help, and they need it now. Every working-class American needs $1,200, at least, $2,400 for couples and $500 for children.
And let me be clear, to emphasize a point that Senator Schumer made. And that is, what I am talking about now is money that must not be taken from other important priorities, like 16 weeks of supplemental unemployment benefits, aid for small business, nutrition, housing, education and the other important provisions in this bill. We need adequate funding to address the unprecedented crises that we face. We should not and cannot and must not take from Peter to pay Paul. We cannot cut on unemployment benefits in order to help small business. We have got to do it all, right now.
AMY GOODMAN: Senator Bernie Sanders, speaking Friday on the floor of the Senate. He wore his mask throughout his speech.
Alex Padilla will become the first Latino to represent California in the U.S. Senate. (photo: Michael Owen Baker/LA Times)
Alex Padilla Becomes California's First Latino US Senator, Replacing Kamala Harris
Phil Willon and Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times
Excerpt: "Alex Padilla, a Los Angeles Democrat who once developed software for satellites but later rose through local and state political office to become California secretary of state, was chosen Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom to serve in the US Senate - an appointment that tears down a barrier for Latinos that has stood as long as California's statehood."
Padilla, a longtime Newsom ally, will become the first Latino to represent California in the Senate, succeeding another history-making politician, Sen. Kamala Harris. Harris, who was the second Black woman and first South Asian to serve in the Senate, in November became the first woman elected vice president of the United States.
The son of Mexican immigrants who settled in the San Fernando Valley, Padilla’s rise to the upper echelon of state politics closely shadowed the steady, decades-long ascension of Latino power and influence throughout California, from L.A.'s towering City Hall to the chandeliered chambers of the state Capitol.
At age 26, Padilla won a seat on the Los Angeles City Council during the anti-immigrant tumult of the 1990s after California voters approved measures requiring “English-only” public schools and banning immigrants who were in the U.S. illegally from government assistance and services. Padilla, who earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, went on to become the city’s youngest council president, a state senator and California’s current, two-term secretary of state.
The election of Democratic President-elect Joe Biden and Harris in November handed Newsom one of his most consequential and politically perilous opportunities in his first two years as California governor — deciding who to appoint to fill Harris’ seat in the Senate, among the most coveted political offices in the nation.
Newsom has faced months of relentless lobbying and pressure from powerful constituencies within the Democratic Party, even from some of his closest advisors.
Newsom said the responsibility was something he wouldn’t “wish even on my worst enemy” because his decision, no matter whom he appointed, was destined to raise the ire of those whose wishes were denied. But choosing Padilla also provides Newsom an opportunity to salve some of those relationships — the governor must now fill Padilla’s vacancy as secretary of state.
Padilla’s appointment does not require confirmation by the California Legislature and his U.S. Senate seat will be up for grabs in the 2022 election. That gives Padilla just two years to set up shop in Washington and launch what is expected to be a very competitive, multimillion-dollar Senate race.
Though incumbency provides advantages when it comes to raising federal campaign funds, Padilla will be starting from scratch. Meanwhile, two potential Democratic competitors already have funds socked away in campaign accounts: Rep. Adam Schiff of Burbank has $13.7 million and Rep. Katie Porter of Irvine has $10.2 million.
Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Los Angeles), a close friend to Padilla for more than two decades, said he has no doubt that Padilla will win over most Californians, no matter who they backed for the appointment, and beat back any challenge in 2022.
“Alex Padilla, with his personality and his work ethic, is going to be able to unite our state and show us in two short years that he’s ready, willing and able to unify all communities across the state,” Cardenas said. “And then continue to have a very successful career in the United States Senate.”
Padilla, 47, has served as California’s secretary of state since 2015. He became one of the first statewide officials to tangle with President Trump over his unfounded allegations in 2016 that millions of California ballots had been cast illegally. In 2017, Padilla rejected requests by Trump’s voter fraud commission for access to detailed voter information from the state, citing privacy concerns.
His most notable achievement as chief elections officer was his push for enactment of the state’s Voter’s Choice Act, allowing counties to swap out neighborhood polling places for community vote centers as long as they also mailed a ballot to every registered voter. But another high-profile program — the state’s automatic voter registration program at DMV offices — was beset by a number of errors when it debuted in 2019.
“The good news is, they were quickly identified and quickly addressed,” Padilla said in a recent interview. “Overall, the program has been an overwhelming success.”
Padilla began his political career in the working-class neighborhoods of the Valley, where he ran City Council election campaigns for Cardenas and Richard Alarcon.
In 1999, he won his own seat on the City Council representing the northeast Valley. Aided by independent mail and phone campaigns by the California Democratic Party and the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, Padilla won decisively against a more seasoned candidate, Corinne Sanchez, president of the health services agency El Proyecto del Barrio and a longtime community activist.
“There is a great deal of pride about a barrio boy going to MIT and coming back,” said Miguel Contreras, then the executive secretary-treasurer of the federation, to explain Padilla’s election victory at the time.
Padilla initially lived with his parents in Pacoima while on the council and his first action was to fix a traffic light near the elementary school he attended as a child.
In an emotional inaugural speech, Padilla dedicated his first term to his parents, Santos and Lupe, immigrants from Mexico who worked as a short order cook and house cleaner, respectively. His mother became a U.S. citizen two days after his election, joining his father, who had taken the citizenship oath three years earlier.
Janice Hahn, who is now a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, remembers the young Padilla on the City Council as someone who was poised and wise beyond his years.
“He does have an innate ability to empathize and listen to other people,” Hahn said. “Coming to elected office at 26 really helps you grow into the job. He showed a real sense of leadership.”
Two years after his election, Padilla shocked the old guard at City Hall by beating a veteran council member, Ruth Galanter, to win enough votes on the City Council to become president of that body. At 28, he became the youngest person and first Latino to serve as council president in more than 100 years.
A pivotal moment in his career happened during the 9/11 terrorist attacks when Padilla served as acting mayor for four days while Mayor Jim Hahn was stuck in Washington, D.C. Jack Weiss, a former federal prosecutor who served with Padilla on the City Council, recalled being with Padilla when there was a report that one of the planes hijacked by terrorists might be landing in Los Angeles, though that later proved to be false.
“Throughout that morning I remember Alex remaining calm,” Weiss said. “Looking back on his poise then gives me great confidence that he will be poised going forward if he becomes a senator.”
As City Council president, Padilla played a role in the selection of William Bratton as chief of police and was involved in negotiations for approval of the downtown development known as L.A. Live, as well as modernization of Los Angeles International Airport. Padilla also strongly opposed an effort to have the Valley secede from Los Angeles to form a new city.
In 2006, Padilla won election to the state Senate, to which he was reelected in 2010.
His state Senate tenure, which was ended by term limits, included an emphasis on health and safety issues. He won approval of a bill that requires California restaurants to post calorie information on their menus to help reduce obesity. He also authored a smoke-free housing law.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in December of 2020. (photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
The New COVID Stimulus Has a Tax Break for CEO Lunches. Seriously.
Paul Blest, VICE
Blest writes: "If you're the average American who's unemployed and wondering how you're going to keep paying all of your bills, there's not a whole lot for you in the new stimulus deal."
The bill also includes a $600 direct payment to most adults.
If you’re a CEO looking for a free lunch on the public's dime, on the other hand, you’re in luck.
After several months failing to pass a new round of pandemic relief, Democrats and Republicans have reached a deal on a roughly $900 billion stimulus bill, though it will be substantially smaller than the CARES Act package passed in March, and stalled stimulus bill attempts passed by House Democrats earlier this year.
The bill leaves out some notable demands that have been thrown around over the past few months, like billions in aid for state and local governments—pushed for by Democrats—as well as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s push to shield businesses from COVID-related liability lawsuits.
This bill stands out for its meagerness. Previous legislative attempts by Democrats would have provided as much as $3.4 trillion in pandemic relief, about $2.5 trillion more than what this bill gives.
So what is in the bill? Here’s an overview.
- Direct assistance payments: Individual adults making up to $75,000 will receive $600 in direct assistance payments, half of what was provided in the CARES Act, and reduced payments until their income hits $87,000. Unlike the CARES Act, however, households with dependent children will receive $600 per child, up slightly from $500 in the previous round of relief. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Josh Hawley had pushed for $1,200 stimulus checks, but GOP so-called deficit hawk Sen. Ron Johnson blocked their bill that would have secured that.
- Unemployment: Unemployed people will be eligible for $300 per week in extra unemployment benefits through March 14. The original CARES Act provided for $600 per week in additional benefits, but that expired at the end of July. In August, Trump signed an executive order redirecting money from FEMA for an additional $300 per week in enhanced benefits, but only those receiving at least $100 through their state unemployment were eligible to qualify, and the program expired in September.
- Businesses: The new relief package puts another $284 billion into the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) that Congress set up in the first CARES Act to provide potentially forgivable loans to struggling small businesses, so long as they spend 60 percent of the loan on payroll expenses. The new bill also expands eligibility for those loans to nonprofits and local media companies.
- Evictions: Without action, the federal moratorium on evictions would have ended at the end of the year. But this bill extends the moratorium a grand total of one month, through Jan. 31. Up to 40 million people could lose their homes when the moratorium expires. The bill also provides $25 billion to state and local governments to use for rental assistance.
- Food stamps: There’s $13 billion in the bill for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and child nutrition benefits. The U.S. hunger relief nonprofit Feeding America has said that more than 80 percent of food banks are serving more people now than they did last year, and that up to one in six Americans suffer from food insecurity by the end of this year due to the pandemic.
- Education: The relief package has more than $82 billion for education funding, with the vast majority—more than $54 billion—going to K-12 schools. There is nothing in the bill that would continue the current moratorium on student loan payments, which is set to expire at the end of January, but the Biden administration could continue the use of executive orders to delay mandatory student loan payments. Additionally, $10 billion is going to assistance for child care.
- Vaccines and testing: The relief package includes $8.75 billion to public health agencies for vaccine distribution and tracking, and another $4 billion in funding for Gavi, the global vaccine alliance. Additionally, nearly $20 billion will be given to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) for procurement and manufacturing of vaccines and medicines to treat COVID-19.
- Three-martini lunches: While working Americans won’t get the $1,200 stimulus check they got in spring, Republicans—reportedly led by the White House—made sure to include a tax break allowing corporations to deduct the full cost of business meals from their federal tax bills. Democrats conceded this in exchange for an expansion of tax credits for low-income people, the Post reported, but some of them are pissed nonetheless. “Republicans are nickel-and-diming benefits for jobless workers, while at the same time pushing for tax breaks for three-martini power lunches,” Sen. Ron Wyden told the Post. “It’s unconscionable.”
Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona, pictured in January, is expected to be President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for education secretary. (photo: Devin Leith-Yessian/Record-Journal/AP)
Biden Picks Connecticut Schools Chief as Education Secretary
Collin Binkley, Alexandra Jaffe and Jonathan Lemire, Associated Press
Excerpt: "President-elect Joe Biden has chosen Miguel Cardona, the education commissioner for Connecticut and a former public school teacher, to serve as education secretary."
Cardona was appointed to the top education post in Connecticut just months before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in March. When schools moved to remote learning, he hurried to deliver more than 100,000 laptops to students across the state. Since then, however, he has increasingly pressed schools to reopen, saying it's harmful to keep students at home.
If confirmed, his first task will be to expand that effort across the nation. Biden has pledged to have a majority of U.S. schools reopened by the end of his first 100 days in office. Biden is promising new federal guidelines on school opening decisions, and a “large-scale” Education Department effort to identify and share the best ways to teach during a pandemic.
Biden’s choice of Cardona, yet to be announced, was confirmed by three people familiar with his decision but not authorized to discuss it publicly.
Cardona, 45, was raised in a housing project in Meriden, Connecticut, and went through the city's public schools before returning to work as a fourth-grade teacher in the district in 1998. At age 28 he had become the youngest principal in the state before working his way up to assistant superintendent of the district.
As an educator, he has devoted his work to improving education for English-language learners and closing achievement gaps between students of color and their white classmates. Both issues have been perennial struggles in Connecticut, which for decades has had among the widest achievement gaps in the nation.
Cardona's doctoral dissertation at the University of Connecticut examined how to boost the “political will” to close gaps between student who are learning English and their peers. It's a personal issue for Cardona, who has said he entered kindergarten only speaking Spanish and struggled to learn English.
He was chosen to help lead a 2011 state task force that studied how to close learning gaps in Connecticut and issued dozens of recommendations. In an update on the work in February, Cardona said the state's gaps have been closing but not quickly enough. At the current rate of progress, he said, it would take until 2060 to erase disparities.
The pandemic has only heightened his concerns about education inequity. In a September video message to special education teachers, he said the pandemic has “further exacerbated gaps in achievement. You are the lieutenants in that battle to close those gaps.”
Those concerns drove his work with Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont to provide computers and wireless internet devices to students across the state. In December, Connecticut said it had become the first state to distribute laptops to every student who needed one.
But that isn't enough, Cardona has said. He recently drew attention to new state data showing that students who are learning online have missed twice as many days of class as those attending school in-person. The data also showed that students with high needs, including those learning English, are far more likely to be considered chronically absent this school year.
Over the summer, when schools were crafting plans to reopen, Cardona urged all schools to provide in-person instruction to all students. Recent state data show that few students learned entirely in-person in October and November. But even as virus cases climbed in the fall, Cardona pushed more schools to reopen, saying there was no evidence of transmission in schools.
"Our position has always been when you can get students into the classroom, that’s the best option,” Cardona told state lawmakers in October. “There is no replacement for that experience in the classroom with a teacher."
His position has sometimes put him at odds with teachers unions, which have called for school buildings to be closed until safety measures are met, and also with some parents who say schools should be ordered to open. Cardona has sought to balance their interests by pressing for reopening without mandating it.
Despite their occasional conflict with him, a coalition of Connecticut education unions previously supported his candidacy as Biden's education secretary. In a Dec. 18 statement, the coalition said Cardona has been tested by the pandemic and “would be a positive force for public education."
“While this challenge has been a rocky road — and many issues remain unresolved — teachers and school support staff have appreciated his openness and collaboration,” the group wrote.
Cardona was also backed by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which has pressed Biden to appoint more Latinos to Cabinet positions. In a letter to Biden this month, the group cited Cardona's accomplishments and said he “fully grasps the challenges that English as Second Language (ESL) Learners, Latinos, and other minority students face in America's classrooms.”
Beyond the pandemic, Biden's education secretary will also be tasked with reversing an array of policies established by Secretary Betsy DeVos. Throughout his campaign, Biden depicted DeVos as an enemy of public schools and vowed to install an education chief with experience working in public schools.
He vowed to revoke Trump administration policies including DeVos’ recent rules on the handling of campus sexual assault.
Biden's education plans also include measures that align with Cardona's interests. The Democrat has pledged to triple federal Title I funding for the neediest schools to ensure that “no child’s future is determined by their zip code, parents’ income, race or disability.” Biden is also proposing free preschool and policies meant to make the nation's schools and teaching force more diverse.
In December, Connecticut said it had become the first state requiring high schools to provide courses on Black and Latino studies. Cardona praised the measure, saying that “identities matter.”
“The fact is that more inclusive, culturally relevant content in classrooms leads to greater student engagement and better outcomes for all,” he said in a statement.
Cardona and his wife, Marissa Pérez Cardona, have two children.
Baloch, 37, was granted asylum in Canada in 2016. (photo: Baloch Students Organization Azad)
Karima Baloch, Pakistani Human Rights Activist, Found Dead in Canada
Shah Meer Baloch and Hannah Ellis-Petersen, Guardian UK
Excerpt: "A dissident Pakistani human rights activist living in exile in Canada has been found dead in Toronto after going missing."
Husband says foul play cannot be ruled out after body of 37-year-old dissident discovered in Toronto
Karima Baloch, 37, was granted asylum in Canada in 2016 after her work as a human rights activist in the troubled Pakistan state of Balochistan had led to her being followed and threatened by the authorities.
The first chair of the Baloch Students Organization (BSO-Azad), a political student organisation, she had been advocating for the rights of those in a region home to a long-running insurgency movement, and raising the ongoing issue of enforced disappearances.
She was listed by the BBC in its 100 most inspirational and influential women of 2016 for her work in human rights.
Baloch is the second Pakistani dissident from Balochistan living in exile to be found dead this year. In May, Sajid Hussain, a journalist who wrote about human rights violations in Balochistan, was found dead in a river in Sweden, where he had sought asylum after threats to his life in Pakistan.
Baloch’s husband, Hammal Haider, also a Pakistani activist living in exile, said she had left home at midday on Sunday for a walk on Toronto’s Centre Island as she often did, but never returned. Toronto police later put out an appeal for information on Twitter and her body was found on Monday on the island.
“I can’t believe that it’s an act of suicide. She was a strong lady and she left home in a good mood,” Haider said. “We can’t rule out foul play as she has been under threats. She left Pakistan as her home was raided more than twice. Her uncle was killed. She was threatened to leave activism and political activities but she did not and fled to Canada.”
Haider said a month ago he had received multiple threatening messages over social media after raising the issue of human rights abuses and military operations in Balochistan.
He said: “I was told that my brothers and wife can be targeted. I didn’t take them seriously. We often get such trolls and threats while talking about human rights abuses.
“I can’t blame anyone right now. We are just waiting to hear from police on its investigation.”
Lateef Johar, a Baloch activist and close friend in exile in Canada, told the Guardian the police had said Baloch’s body had been found near a body of water. “The police have not provided any further details. They have not told us the cause of death nor have they returned the body of Karima.”
Johar said he had met Baloch on Thursday at the University of Toronto, where they were both students. They talked on the phone on Friday. “I don’t think this is an accident or an act of suicide,” Johar said. “We all feel threatened here. Even after the killing of Sajid Hussain I fear when I find myself in a dark street.”
Amnesty International said: “The death of activist Karima Baloch in Toronto, Canada is deeply shocking and must be immediately and effectively investigated. The perpetrators must be brought to justice without recourse to the death penalty.”
Since moving to Canada, Baloch had continued to be vocal about human rights abuses in her home province and across Pakistan. She regularly spoke at conferences, addressed the media and attended protest rallies in Canada.
“She had received threats from unknown Pakistani numbers on WhatsApp after a few Baloch students were abducted in late 2017,” said Johar. “Those threats also mentioned me. She was asked to come back to Pakistan and told that if she comes back, the cases against her would be quashed and those abducted students would be freed.”
The Swedish authorities ruled out foul play in the death of Hussain but an autopsy did not confirm an exact cause of death. A friend of the family who has seen the autopsy report and police investigation told the Guardian: “The family was not convinced by the investigation and they have requested for more evidence from the Swedish authorities. Their request has yet to be entertained.”
Leonardo DiCaprio. (photo: Angela Weiss/Getty Images)
Leonardo DiCaprio Teams Up With Global Wildlife Conservation and the EU to Protect Biodiversity
Ian Carey, One Green Planet
Carey writes: "Leonardo DiCaprio, the European Union, and Global Wildlife Conservation (GWC) have announced two projects aimed at protecting biodiversity."
An investment of more than $41.5 million USD will be put into the two initiatives.
The first initiative will be Rapid Response for Ecosystems, Species, and Communities Undergoing Emergencies (Rapid RESCUE). This project will be aimed at providing a rapid response to emerging biodiversity threats such as those caused by the ongoing global pandemic.
The second initiative will be aimed at safeguarding Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The project will reintroduce eastern lowland gorillas and other threatened species back into the park as well as work to restore habitat.
“This year has shown that we are at a critical turning point for our planet and that we must choose to protect and restore wildlife and ecosystems, for their sake and for our own health,” DiCaprio stated in a press release. “The current pandemic, devastating fires in the Amazon, Australia, the Congo, the larger and more frequent hurricanes in the Caribbean, and other environmental crises have shown that we must reset our relationship with nature. I am honored to work with Commissioner Urpilainen, the EU, and GWC to establish this Fund to implement urgent conservation actions around the world.”
DiCaprio is the co-founder of Earth Alliance and has provided more than $100 million in grants to a variety of projects through his philanthropic efforts.
The GWC will aid in the projects at Virunga National Park by helping to train park rangers, sharing experience, and forming a technical expert committee.
“Our planet’s biodiversity underpins healthy ecosystems, which are essential to a healthy planet for people and wildlife,” said Wes Sechrest, Chief Scientist and CEO, Global Wildlife Conservation. “Only by investing in nature-based solutions, as GWC and the European Commission are doing, can we tackle the twin crises of wildlife extinction and climate change, and prevent future pandemics. The EU is helping lead the way in these global efforts.”
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