(2021-12-20). Headlines for December 20, 2021. democracynow.org Build Back Better in Jeopardy After Sen. Joe Manchin Announces He Will Not Vote in Favor, Federal Company Vaccine Mandate Reinstated; New Data Show Moderna Booster Helps Fight Omicron, Southwest CEO Tests Positive After Senate Hearing; Sens. Booker and Warren Announce They Have COVID, Omicron Sends COVID Cases Surging, Prompts New Restrictions in Israel, U.K., the Netherlands, 35-Year-Old Progressive Activist Gabriel Boric Will Be Chile's Next President, Death Toll from Super Typhoon Rai Rises to 375 in Philippines; Floods Kill 8 in Malaysia, Hong Kong's "Patriots Only" Election Sees Record Low Turnout, Hundreds…
(2021-12-20). VIDEO: Assange's life is in danger. Attend emergency online meeting to demand his immediate release. wsws.org "The campaign for Assange's freedom must turn to the emerging struggles of the working class against social inequality and the murderous policies of mass infection."
(2021-12-20). Thailand eases restrictions despite Omicron warnings. wsws.org Thailand joined a rapidly growing list of countries when it first detected an imported case of the more transmissible and vaccine-resistant Omicron variant on December 6.
(2021-12-20). CEPR Spotlight: Vaccines, Patents and Copyrights. cepr.net CEPR Co-founder and Senior Economist Dean Baker has written extensively on how government-granted patent monopolies allow pharmaceutical companies to extract billions from everyday people using drug research that is already publicly funded at a fraction of the cost. He has long been a critic of patents and copyrights, pointing to other incentives and means of …
(2021-12-20). Getting Ready for the Next Pandemic: Can We Get Patent Monopolies on the Table? cepr.net From the way our policy types talk about patents, or refuse to talk about them, they must think that the constitution guarantees life, liberty, and people getting incredibly rich from patents. Even as this pandemic has been needlessly prolonged by patent restrictions on the spread of technology for vaccines, tests, and treatments, resulting in millions …
(2021-12-20). Dr. Carlos del Rio on Omicron Surge, COVID Testing Crisis & the Need to Vaccinate the World. democracynow.org 
With the emergence of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, the United States is now averaging over 130,000 new COVID-19 cases a day, and health officials warn the U.S. could see a million new cases a day by February. We speak with health expert Dr. Carlos del Rio, who says that vaccination complemented by booster shots is the best defense against severe illness. "Everybody's going to get infected. You're going to be exposed to this virus because it's essentially going to be everywhere," says del Rio.
(2021-12-20). Socialist Equality Party (Australia) holds health workers' forum on the Global Workers' Inquest into the COVID-19 pandemic. wsws.org Speakers outlined the necessity for the Workers' Inquest to cut through the cover-ups and falsifications being used to justify the removal of even the most basic measures to halt the worsening of the pandemic fuelled by the Omicron variant.
(2021-12-20). How the Mighty Culinary Union Survived the Apocalypse. zcomm.org After facing 98% unemployment in the depths of the pandemic, the strongest union in Las Vegas has risen again…
(2021-12-20). Our Age Of Uprisings: We Are A World Remaking Itself. popularresistance.org The global pandemic unfolds amidst a world of uprisings. Some have seen huge numbers gather in the streets and become ungovernable, including the victorious farmer's strike in India, the efforts to expropriate the landlords in Berlin, the mass refusal of anti-Black police violence in the US, and the mobilizations against the neoliberal regime in Chile. | Elsewhere, in Chiapas, Kerala, Rojava and an archipelago of smaller "zones to defend," the uprisings take more sustained forms as people reinvent or reclaim life in common. Indigenous people around the world are refusing to allow their lands and lives to be sacri…
(2021-12-20). Support the #pizzaisnotworking walkouts by pharmacy workers! Trillions for public health, not pandemic profiteering! wsws.org The actions taken by pharmacists in the US are an early sign of a new phase in the growth of working-class resistance, driven by the deadly winter surge and the emergence of the hyper-infectious Omicron variant.
(2021-12-20). COVID-19: WHO urges Europeans to be smart and safe this holiday season. moderndiplomacy.eu The World Health Organization (WHO) is reminding Europeans to remain vigilant against COVID-19 spread as they round out the year with friends and family. In a message on Thursday, WHO Regional Director Hans Kluge urged Europeans to "be smart, be kind, be safe this holiday season." The COVID-19 threat remains high across the continent, which …
(2021-12-20). UK reaches "hundreds of thousands" of daily COVID cases as education unions demand schools reopen in January. wsws.org With the backing of the education unions, the government refused to close schools before the Christmas break, even though many had to partially close as COVID took its toll among staff and pupils.
(2021-12-20). Philadelphia high school switches to virtual learning after teachers threaten sickout strike. wsws.org Late Sunday night, the administration of Olney Charter High School in North Philadelphia gave in to teachers' demands that the school switch to virtual learning in an attempt to stop the spread of COVID-19 on campus.
(2021-12-20). Omicron: School closures must be 'avoided whenever possible'. moderndiplomacy.eu COVID-19 cases are spiking all over the world, but the Executive Director of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday that despite the rise of the highly transmissible Omicron variant "nationwide school closures should be avoided whenever possible." "When COVID-19 community transmission increases and stringent public health measures become a necessity, schools must be the …
(2021-12-20). Death toll rises in Germany even before Omicron variant takes hold. wsws.org With about 2,000 COVID-19 deaths per week, more people are currently dying than at the peak of the third wave in spring 2021. The situation threatens to worsen with the spread of the even more infectious Omicron variant.
(2021-12-19). Trump: China Should Pay Trillions of Dollars for COVID Damages. telesurenglish.net Donald Trump, former U.S. President, claimed once again that China is responsible for the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. He calls for China to pay 60 trillion dollars for the damage caused by the epidemic worldwide. | RELATED: | "China has to pay, they have to pay reparations, and China does not have the money to pay those reparations," Trump declared during an interview with Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartir…
(2021-12-19). Putin and Xi Plot Their SWIFT Escape. orinocotribune.com By Pepe Escobar — Dec 17, 2021 | Russia and China's announcement of an independent financial trading platform will free nations under US sanctions from western intrusion into their commercial activities | Vladimir Putin got straight to the point. At the opening of his one hour and fourteen minute video conversation with Xi Jinping on 15 December, he described Russia-China relations as "an example of genuine inter-state cooperation in the 21st century." | Their myriad levels of cooperation have been known for years now — from trade, oil and gas, finance, aerospace and the fight against Covid-19, to the…
(2021-12-19). Only a Quarter of the $9 Billion HUD Got to Combat COVID Impacts Has Been Spent. truthout.org 
This Tucked in the massive pandemic relief act in March 2020 was about $9 billion for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to divvy up between cities and states for housing-related coronavirus…
(2021-12-19). Bombshell Document Dump on Pfizer Vaccine Data. globalresearch.ca What is contained in Pfizer's confidential report is detailed evidence on the impacts of the "vaccine" on mortality and morbidity. This data which emanates from the Horse's Mouth can be used to confront as well formulate legal procedures against Big Pharma, the governments, the WHO and the media.
(2021-12-19). The Dangerous Misuse Of 'Natural Immunity' Against Covid Vaccination. popularresistance.org One particularly pernicious myth going around in the US is the notion that "natural immunity," gained from contracting Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2, is preferable to getting vaccinated. One prominent politician, Sen. Rand Paul (R.—Ky.), has declared that he refuses to get vaccinated, because of his belief that he has "natural immunity" since he's "already had the disease" (Slate, 5/23/21). | Now, the Republican Party is officially embracing its position as the anti-vaccine political party, advocating what they call "natural immunity" as an alternative or substitute to getting vaccina…
(2021-12-19). WHO lists 9th COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. moderndiplomacy.eu The World Health Organization (WHO) approved on Friday the Covovax vaccine for emergency use listing (EUL), elevating to nine the number of immunizations approved to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The vaccine is produced by the Serum Institute of India, under licence from Novavax, and will now be part of the COVAX facility portfolio, boosting efforts to vaccinate more people in lower-income countries. WHO Assistant-Director General for Access to Medicines and Health Products, Dr. Mariângela Simà£o, said that "even …
(2021-12-19). HIPAA Violations: 6 Tips for Preventing Them. moderndiplomacy.eu The US healthcare industry is unfortunately not immune to HIPAA violations. In 2020 there have already been 421 reported violations, and several investigations are still ongoing. The COVID-19 pandemic challenges healthcare professionals in unprecedented ways, which is why additional discretions were introduced in March. There have been over 20 million recorded instances of health information …
(2021-12-19). Forbidden Parties: Boris Johnson's Law on Illegal Covid Gatherings. dissidentvoice.org It was meant to be time to reflect. The eager arms of a new pandemic were enfolding a society with asphyxiating, lethal effect. Public health authorities advocated various measures: social distancing, limited contact between family and friends, limited mobility. No grand booze-ups. No large parties. No bonking, except within dispensations of intimacy and various "bubble" …
(2021-12-19). Urban farming on the rise in Mexico. america.cgtn.com 
Mexico has seen a growing trend of urban farming. Mexico was badly hit by the pandemic, but its capital and surrounding metropolitan area — home to 23 million people — has become greener as a result.
(2021-12-19). States Are Letting Utility Companies Cut Off Power Just as Winter Arrives. truthout.org 
Millions of U.S. residents behind on bills are at risk of having their electricity, heat and ability to stir up a hot meal cut off on December 22 by private utility companies, just a day after the solstice heralds the colder states' descent into true winter's chill. During the early months of the pandemic,
(2021-12-19). Covid-19, Hospitals & The Curse of Capitalism. zcomm.org The idea that sickness must be profitable reaches deep into the ideological heart of neoliberalism…
(2021-12-19). International Youth Forum "BRICS Plus" moderndiplomacy.eu The International Youth Forum "BRICS PLUS" was held in the online format on 14-15 December 2021. Due to some COVID-19 restrictions it was decided to hold the first part of the forum online and the second part of it will be held offline in 2022. More than 200 youth leaders, public organizations, scientists, entrepreneurs and …
(2021-12-19). The Omicron Fraud Used to Justify the "Christmas Covid Lockdown" globalresearch.ca The alleged spread of the "deadly" Omicron variant has now become the pretext and justification for implementing partial lockdowns, restrictions on travel as well as confinement and stay at home mandates. | Anthony Fauci is leading the disinformation campaign, intimating that …
(2021-12-19). Wet'suwet'en Resistance And Solidarity: Evicting The Colonizers. popularresistance.org One month ago today, the RCMP violently raided unceded Gidimt'en territory (November 18-19, 2021), removing Indigenous people from their land at gunpoint on behalf of TC Energy's proposed Coastal GasLink pipeline. The Wet'suwet'en enforced our standing eviction of CGL by closing roads into the territory November 14-17. Following the raids, arrestees received cruel and violent treatment in prison. The conditions set forth by the court are human rights violations to Indigenous peoples. We're still here. We're still throwing down. We are more determined than ever to protect our traditional territories for future gen…