Headlines for February 25, 2021
Democracy Now (U.S.A)

Headlines for February 25, 2021

Biden and VP Harris to Mark 50 Million Vaccine Shots Since Start of AdminFDA Moves Closer to Approval of Single-Dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 VaccineManchin Will Vote to Confirm Rep. Haaland for Interior Sec. as Neera Tanden's Bid for OMB in PerilBiden Admin to Release Intel Report on Jamal Khashoggi's 2018 Murder6,500 Migrant Workers Have Died in Qatar Since It Was Named Host of 2022 World CupAt Least 41 Migrants Drown in Mediterranean After Boat CapsizesAmnesty Revokes Alexei Navalny's "Prisoner of Conscience" Status over Hateful Remarks79 Prisoners Killed in Ecuador in Gang-Related ViolenceAngola, Louisiana Prisoners on Hunger Strike over Extended Solitary ConfinementIllinois Becomes First State to End Cash…

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25 February 2021
Biden Canceled Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” Policy, But Asylum Seekers Still Waiting in Squalid Camps
Democracy Now (U.S.A)

Biden Canceled Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” Policy, But Asylum Seekers Still Waiting in Squalid Camps

One of the most controversial Trump-era immigration policies — the so-called Remain in Mexico program, officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols — left about 25,000 asylum seekers stranded on the other side of the border while their cases progressed through U.S. courts. President Joe Biden has suspended that program, but immigrant advocates say his administration needs to move more quickly to undo the damage. Although dozens of asylum seekers have been allowed to trickle in, many thousands are still waiting in dangerous conditions for their chance to cross the border, including in the Matamoros refugee camp across the border from Brownsville, Texas. It is the largest camp of…

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24 February 2021
Pro-Fossil Fuel Senators Grill Deb Haaland as She Bids to Become First Indigenous Cabinet Secretary
Democracy Now (U.S.A)

Pro-Fossil Fuel Senators Grill Deb Haaland as She Bids to Become First Indigenous Cabinet Secretary

Indigenous communities across the United States are closely following the Senate confirmation hearings of Congressmember Deb Haaland, President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Interior Department, who would become the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary if she is confirmed. Haaland is a tribal citizen of the Laguna Pueblo, and the prospect of an Indigenous person leading the federal department with broad oversight of Native American affairs has galvanized support for her in Indian Country. Several Republican senators have grilled Haaland over her past comments opposing fracking, the Keystone XL oil pipeline and other fossil fuel projects, attempting to paint her as a “radical.” Journalist…

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24 February 2021
Headlines for February 24, 2021
Democracy Now (U.S.A)

Headlines for February 24, 2021

Ex-U.S. Capitol Security Say Intelligence Failures Led to Jan. 6 Attack Even as FBI Warned of "War"Senate Confirms Thomas-Greenfield, Vilsack as GOP Go After Haaland in Interior ConfirmationHouse to Vote Friday on $1.9 Trillion Relief Bill as Fate of $15/Hour Minimum Wage Remains UncertainU.S. Blocks Waiver on Vaccine Intellectual Property ProtectionsLebanese Lawmakers Accused of Vaccine Line Cutting; Rabbis Call on Israel to Vaccinate PalestiniansNo Charges Filed Against Rochester Police Officers Who Killed Daniel PrudeAhmaud Arbery's Mother Files Lawsuit Against Her Son's Killers on Anniversary of His DeathFamily Files Lawsuit over Police Killing of Filipino American Angelo Quinto in CaliforniaIndian Court Grants Bail to Indian Climate Activist Who Shared…

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24 February 2021
adrienne maree brown: Octavia Butler's Visions of the Future Have Transformed Generation of Readers
Democracy Now (U.S.A)

adrienne maree brown: Octavia Butler's Visions of the Future Have Transformed Generation of Readers

The visionary Black science-fiction writer Octavia Butler died 15 years ago on February 24, 2006, but her influence and readership has only continued to grow since then. In September, Butler’s novel “Parable of the Sower” became her first to reach the New York Times best-seller list. We speak with adrienne maree brown, a writer and Octavia Butler scholar, who says Butler had a remarkable talent for universalizing Black stories. “She wrote about Black women and about Black feminism, about Black futures, but she wrote in a way that appealed to all human beings,” says brown. Source link

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23 February 2021
Remembering Octavia Butler: Black Sci-Fi Writer Shares Cautionary Tales in Unearthed 2005 Interview
Democracy Now (U.S.A)

Remembering Octavia Butler: Black Sci-Fi Writer Shares Cautionary Tales in Unearthed 2005 Interview

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! The Quarantine Report. I’m Amy Goodman. To mark Black History Month once again, as well as the 25th anniversary of Democracy Now!, we turn now to one of the last television interviews given by the visionary Black science-fiction writer Octavia Butler. In November 2005, she came into Democracy Now!’s old firehouse studio. Just three months later, Butler died, on February 24th, 2006, after she fell outside her home outside of Seattle, Washington. She was 58 years old. Butler was the first Black woman to win the Hugo and Nebula awards…

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23 February 2021
U.S. COVID Death Toll Hits 500,000 as Rich Nations Hoard Vaccines, Leaving Poorer Nations Without Any
Democracy Now (U.S.A)

U.S. COVID Death Toll Hits 500,000 as Rich Nations Hoard Vaccines, Leaving Poorer Nations Without Any

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The Quarantine Report. I’m Amy Goodman. It was a year ago when the United States confirmed its first COVID-19 death and then-President Trump vowed the coronavirus was, quote, “very well under control in our country,” unquote. By the time President Joe Biden took the oath of office last month, the U.S. death toll from the virus had crossed 400,000. In the last month, 100,000 more people have lost their lives. At a sunset ceremony at the White House, President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and their spouses led the…

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23 February 2021
Headlines for February 23, 2021
Democracy Now (U.S.A)

Headlines for February 23, 2021

U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Passes 500,000AG Nominee Merrick Garland Pledges to Prosecute January 6 InsurrectionistsConfirmation Hearings Open for Deb Haaland for Interior Secretary, Xavier Becerra for HHS SecretaryPresident Biden to Meet Virtually with Canadian Premier Justin TrudeauSupreme Court Won't Block Release of Trump Tax Returns to Manhattan ProsecutorsBoeing 777 Jets Grounded After Engine Explosion Scatters Debris Over ColoradoU.N. Calls for Rescue of Rohingya Refugees Stranded at SeaColombian Inquiry Reveals Army Carried Out 6,400 Extrajudicial Killings from 2002-08Italian Ambassador to Congo Among 3 Killed in Ambush of World Food Programme ConvoyHaitian Protesters Blast U.S. Support for Jovenel Moïse, Who Has Refused to Step DownOffshore Oil Spill Hits Israel's Beaches,…

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23 February 2021
No Heat or Water, Overflowing Toilets, Disgusting Food: Texas Prisons Went "from Bad to Dire" in Storm
Democracy Now (U.S.A)

No Heat or Water, Overflowing Toilets, Disgusting Food: Texas Prisons Went "from Bad to Dire" in Storm

As winter storms overwhelmed Texas, many incarcerated people in the state went days without heat and water, making already grim conditions behind bars even more intolerable for thousands of people. Officials say 33 prisons across the state lost power and 20 had water shortages after the state’s electrical grid failed. Staff shortages compounded the problems, and some incarcerated people report not being provided with blankets to keep warm in their freezing cells and being served inedible food. “Texas prison conditions have gone from bad to dire,” says Marshall Project reporter Keri Blakinger. “Prisons didn’t really have the sort of infrastructure going into all of this that many people…

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22 February 2021
This Is What Deregulation Looks Like: Some Texans Face $10K+ in Electric Bills, Others Still in Dark
Democracy Now (U.S.A)

This Is What Deregulation Looks Like: Some Texans Face $10K+ in Electric Bills, Others Still in Dark

When millions of Texans lost power during extreme winter weather, some who were fortunate enough to keep the lights on now face astronomically high energy bills, with people being charged thousands of dollars for just a few days of energy use. The skyrocketing bills are a result of the state’s years-long push to deregulate its energy market, says Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program. “We are seeing in these deregulated environments unscrupulous companies preying on their assumption that households will not understand or read the fine print,” says Slocum. We also speak with Texas resident Akilah Scott-Amos, who saw her electricity bill jump to over $11,000…

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22 February 2021