Justice

Fainting, dizziness, vomiting, a racing heart— these are just some of the reported reactions people said they experienced after receiving Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine. However, according to a new analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), these reactions weren’t related to an issue with the vaccine itself but instead were the results of pre-vaccine anxiety, including a fear of needles.

A man who took part in the Capitol breach on January 6 said this week that his actions weren’t 100 percent his fault. Rather, he said, was influenced into being a part of the violence that day by something his lawyer called “Foxmania,” which resulted in him believing false claims about election fraud in the 2020 election. Anthony Antonio surrendered to police in April and was charged with five federal crimes related to the January attack, including violent entry and disorderly conduct while in the Capitol, and impeding law enforcement. One video of Antonio’s actions during the day shows him shouting at officers, telling them, “You want war? We got war. 1776 all over again.”

A group of anti-war activists blockaded the entrances to a Raytheon facility in Portsmouth, Rhode Island on Thursday morning to protest the role the weapons-maker plays in the killing of civilians in Yemen, the occupied Palestinian territories, and elsewhere around the world. The demonstration was organized and live-streamed on Facebook by Resist and Abolish the Military Industrial Complex (RAM INC) and The FANG Collective, a direct-action organization based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. (Watch the stream here.) In a statement, The FANG Collective pointed to a 2018 CNN report revealing that Raytheon — the second-largest military contractor in the world and the largest producer of guided missiles — manufactured bombs and other munitions that the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition used to kill dozens of women, children, and other civilians in Yemen.

Do African Americans have Second Amendment rights? That’s the question Emory University professor Carol Anderson set out to answer in her new book, The Second, which looks at the constitutional right to bear arms and its uneven application throughout U.S. history. She says she was prompted to write the book after the 2016 police killing of Philando Castile, who was fatally shot during a traffic stop after he told the officer he had a legal firearm. Anderson says the Second Amendment was always intended to be a means of arming white people to control the Black population. “There was this massive fear about these slave revolts, Black people demanding their freedom, being willing to have an uprising to gain their freedom,” says Anderson. “What I saw was that it wasn’t about guns. It was about the fear of Black people.”

Like a carousel of bad news coming from all four corners of the globe, the year thus far has borne witness to a litany of extreme weather events and stark research findings with one grim overarching message: The world is still failing miserably to adequately respond to the already devastating impacts of the climate crisis.

Looking at the state of the world, one is struck by the stark contradiction of progress being made on some fronts even as we are facing massive disruptions, tremendous inequalities and existential threats to humanity and nature. In this context, how do we evaluate the qualities of progress and decline? How significant is political activism to progress? In this exclusive interview, Noam Chomsky, one of the world’s greatest scholars and leading activists, shares his insights on the state of the world and the conundrum of activism and change, including the significance of the Black Lives Matter movement, the movement for Palestinian rights, the urgency of the climate crisis and the threat of nuclear weapons.

Shortly after the Senate passed a $550 billion bipartisan infrastructure package on Tuesday, the Congressional Progressive Caucus said a survey of its nearly 100 members showed that a majority of respondents are prepared to withhold their votes for the newly approved legislation until the upper chamber also greenlights a sweeping reconciliation bill. In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), three top CPC members led by caucus chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) wrote that their fellow progressive lawmakers were “specifically asked” whether they would “commit to withholding a yes vote on the bipartisan infrastructure deal… until the Senate has passed budget reconciliation legislation deemed acceptable by the Congressional Progressive Caucus.”

After weeks of fits and starts, the Senate approved a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan for states on Aug. 10. A day later, the Senate approved a $3.5 trillion budget resolution sending funding into family, health and environmental programs. All in all, the actions represent delivering a cornerstone of President Joe Biden’s agenda. The impact on Indian Country is significant. Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. called the bill a “historic, potentially transformational investment for tribes across this country” in a virtual meeting with President Joe Biden and other leaders Wednesday. During another town hall Wednesday hosted by the National Congress of American Indians, Amber Ebarb, Tlingit, deputy staff director for Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, said the lawmaker has been working hard over the last few months to garner support from the Republican side of the aisle. Ebarb said, like many, they were excited to see the bill’s passage.

Economy & Labor Pelosi Is Wrong – Biden Has the Power to Cancel Student Debt, and He Should Culture & Media Glen Ford’s Journalism Fought for Black Liberation and Against Imperialism Environment & Health EPA Approval of PFAS for Fracking May Spell a New Health Crisis for Communities Politics & Elections Both the Delta Variant and Thin-Willed Democrats Are Lethal to Our Society Environment & Health Biden Promotes $100 Incentives to Encourage Unvaccinated to Get Their Shots Environment & Health Exxon-Influenced Senators Carved Climate Out of Infrastructure Almost Entirely After many of their fellow Democratic lawmakers skipped town for a weeks-long vacation, Reps. Cori Bush, Ilhan Omar, and Ayanna Pressley slept outside the U.S. Capitol building Friday night to demand that the House immediately reconvene and pass an extension of the soon-to-expire national eviction moratorium. With the reprieve set to lapse on Saturday, House Democratic leaders scrambled to pull their caucus together at the last-minute to pass legislation that would extend the moratorium until the end of 2021. But the effort, spurred by the Biden administration’s refusal to act on its own, ultimately fizzled out as a number of centrist Democrats made clear they would rather leave Washington, D.C. for August recess than work to prolong the moratorium, which is shielding millions of people across the U.S. from potentially imminent eviction. A parallel effort by Senate Democrats has also failed to get off the ground. “Earlier Friday afternoon, top Democrats began floating an alternative that they hoped would pick up votes from the moderate wing of their caucus — an extension of just over three months, rather than six months — on what is likely to be the House’s final task before departing for its lengthy August recess,” Politico reported. “But moderates remained unconvinced.” Because House Democratic leaders attempted to pass a moratorium extension using a procedure known as unanimous consent, a single Republican objection—in this case from Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.)—was enough to block the legislation. There was no full vote in the chamber, so centrist Democrats did not have to go on the record opposing an extension. The House is not scheduled to return to session until September 20. Bush (D-Mo.), who was formerly unhoused as a mother of two, expressed outrage that many of her Democratic colleagues “chose to go on vacation early today rather than staying to vote to keep people in their homes.” “That the House suddenly adjourned this evening without a roll call vote on Chairwoman Waters’ legislation is a moral failure,” Bush wrote in a letter to House Democrats on Friday, referring to Rep. Maxine Waters’ (D-Calif.) bill to extend the eviction ban. “I have been unhoused and evicted. I’ve slept in my car and slept outdoors. I know what it’s like, and I wouldn’t wish that trauma on anyone.” “I’m prepared to do whatever it takes, including staying in Washington and demanding that the House vote on H.R. 4791,” Bush continued. “I cannot in good conscience leave Washington tonight while a Democratic-controlled government allows millions of people to go unhoused as the Delta variant is ravaging our communities. Millions of people are about to lose their homes and, as Democrats, we must not give up on the chance to save their lives.” The Missouri Democrat went on to invite her colleagues to join her in sleeping outside the Capitol, but just two lawmakers — Pressley and Omar — heeded the call, along with a number of activists. We’ve got you, Sis. Extend the #EvictionMoratorium https://t.co/WH9X1Owazf pic.twitter.com/gHDhwmzMf4 — Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) July 31, 2021 First implemented by the CDC in September, the federal eviction moratorium is set to expire as more than 10 million tenants across the country are behind on rent and relief funds appropriated by Congress to help at-risk households remain largely unspent. “Six months after the aid program was approved by President Donald Trump in December, just 12% of the first $25 billion in funds had reached people in need due to loss of income from the pandemic,” the Washington Post reported Friday. “More than three months after President Biden signed a March relief package with another $21.5 billion for the program, even less of that has been spent.” Housing advocates have warned that a wave of evictions, while unacceptable at any time, would be especially perilous in the current moment, given the nationwide spread of the highly contagious Delta variant. While renters in Hawaii, Maryland, New York, Illinois, and a handful of other states will still be protected by temporary eviction bans after the national moratorium expires on Saturday, experts have argued that federal action is necessary to prevent a looming housing disaster. “Without immediate action, millions of these households will be at risk of losing their homes and their ability to keep themselves and their families safe and healthy,” National Low Income Housing Coalition and other organizations wrote in a letter (pdf) to congressional leaders on Thursday. “The newly surging Delta variant, low vaccination rates in communities with high eviction filings, and the slow rate of distributing [Emergency Rental Assistance] make the necessity of an extension abundantly clear.” The letter came hours after the Biden White House asked Congress to pass legislation to extend the moratorium — just three days before it was set to expire. In a statement Thursday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki insisted that the Biden administration cannot unilaterally prolong the moratorium due to a recent Supreme Court ruling — a justification that many questioned. “The CDC could extend the eviction moratorium right now,” argued Kriston Capps, a staff writer for City Lab. “It would almost certainly be struck down, but it would take time for a challenge to reach the Supreme Court. Instead the White House punted to Congress but with very little time to reach a deal.” From the front of the U.S. Capitol, Bush tweeted Saturday morning that the House could have passed an extension in time, “but some Democrats went on vacation instead.” “We slept at the Capitol last night to ask them to come back and do their jobs,” Bush added. “Today’s their last chance. We’re still here.” This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.

The chairman of the influential House Judiciary Committee authored a message to NORML's email list on Monday—a notable signal of how the cannabis legalization movement has entered the mainstream corridors of...