JUNE 30, 2020
PROGRESSIVE OPINION AND NEWS
“THIS IS THE WORLD WE LIVE IN. THIS IS THE WORLD WE COVER.” I
REALLY LOVE THIS COMMONDREAMS.ORG MOTTO, AND IN SOME OF THESE ARTICLES, IT
APPLIES BETTER THAN ANYTHING ELSE I COULD SAY.
Published on
Monday, June 29, 2020
byCommon Dreams
'Absolute Robbery': Gilead Announces $3,120 Price Tag for
Covid-19 Drug Developed With $70 Million in Taxpayer Support
"Taxpayers provided funding for the development of this
drug. Now Gilead is price-gouging off it during a pandemic. Beyond
disgusting," said Sen. Bernie Sanders.
byJake Johnson, staff writer
50 Comments
PHOTOGRAPH -- A woman wearing a mask walks by Gilead Sciences
headquarters sign in Foster City, California on April 30, 2020. (Photo: Josh
Edelson/AFP via Getty Images)
Consumer advocates reacted with disgust Monday to an
announcement by Gilead Sciences that it will charge U.S. hospitals around
$3,120 per privately insured patient for a treatment course of remdesivir, a
drug which has proven modestly effective at speeding Covid-19 recovery times.
INSERT -- "Allowing Gilead to set the terms during a
pandemic represents a colossal failure of leadership by the Trump
administration."
—Peter Maybarduk, Public Citizen
Peter Maybarduk, director of Public
Citizen's Access to Medicines Program, called Gilead's pricing—which
works out to around $520 per dose for non-government buyers like
hospitals—"an offensive display of hubris and disregard for the
public" and slammed the Trump administration for failing to ensure that
the price of a drug developed with substantial taxpayer support is affordable
for all.
Maybarduk pointed to Institute for Clinical and Economic
Review research showing Gilead could still make a profit by pricing
remdesivir at $310 per course.
"Gilead has priced at several thousand dollars a drug that
should be in the public domain. For $1 per day, remdesivir can be
manufactured at scale with a reasonable profit," Maybarduk said in a
statement. "Gilead did not make remdesivir alone. Public funding was
indispensable at each stage, and government scientists led the early drug
discovery team. Allowing Gilead to set the terms during a pandemic represents
a colossal failure of leadership by the Trump administration."
Public Citizen estimated in a May report that
U.S. taxpayers contributed at least $70.5 million to the development of
remdesivir.
Public Citizen
✔
@Public_Citizen
US taxpayers spent $70,000,000 developing this drug. This is an
absolute robbery. https://twitter.com/CNBC/status/1277568895973560320 …
CNBC
✔
@CNBC
Gilead's coronavirus treatment remdesivir to cost $3,120 per
U.S. patient with private insurance
https://cnb.cx/2NAxZ1c
3,158
2:30 PM - Jun 29, 2020
Twitter Ads info and privacy
1,526 people are talking about this
Shortly after Gilead's announcement, the U.S. Health and
Human Services Department said it reached an agreement with the pharmaceutical
giant to purchase more than 500,000 treatment courses of remdesivir for
American hospitals.
The Wall Street Journal
reported that the United States is "the only developed country where
Gilead will charge two prices"—one for government buyers ($390 per
dose) and one for non-government buyers like hospitals ($520 per dose). The
typical remdesivir treatment course consists of around six doses.
INSERT -- "Trump's refusal to stop pandemic profiteering
with a stroke of a pen is a green light to other manufacturers to exploit
this tragedy."
—Rep. Lloyd Doggett
Unlike the U.S., the Journal notes, the governments of other
advanced nations "negotiate drug prices directly with drugmakers."
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), chair of the House Ways and Means
Health Subcommittee, said in a statement that
"Trump's refusal to stop pandemic profiteering with a stroke of a pen is a
green light to other manufacturers to exploit this tragedy."
Doggett said he is pressuring the Trump administration and
Gilead to disclose the details of their agreement, including the sum the government
paid for the 500,000 treatment courses of remdesivir.
On Twitter, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) condemned Gilead's
price-tag as "beyond disgusting."
"Taxpayers provided funding for the development of this
drug. Now Gilead is price-gouging off it during a pandemic," said Sanders.
"Coronavirus treatment must be free to all."
Our work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share
Alike 3.0 License. Feel free to republish and share widely.
HOW CAN A SENATOR FAIL TO SEE THE KEY PIECE OF INFORMATION HERE?
SENATOR KELLY LOEFFLER IS RUNNING FOR ELECTION. SHE WAS APPOINTED TO THE OFFICE
WHEN HER PREDECESSOR STEPPED DOWN, AND WILL FACE ELECTORAL COMPETITION THIS TIME. IT’S
GOING TO BE A LONG, HOT SUMMER, AND THAT MAY MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO HER. JUST A WEEK OR SO AFTER A GROUP OF WHITE AND CONSPICUOUSLY ARMED PROTESTERS MARCHED AT PRESIDENT TRUMP'S BIDDING TO "LIBERATE" THEIR STATE, SHE HAS CALLED AN IDENTICALLY ARMED BLACK GROUP DOING THE SAME THING A CASE OF "MOB RULE." SUCH AN OBVIOUS BIAS IN HER JUDGEMENT WON'T HELP HER WIN ELECTION, ESPECIALLY NOW WHEN PEOPLE ARE PAYING SO MUCH ATTENTION.
SHE NEEDS TO BE CAREFUL IF SHE CAN’T BE GOOD, ESPECIALLY THIS YEAR. PERSONALLY, I DON’T THINK ANY PROTESTER SHOULD HAVE A GUN, OF ANY RACIAL OR RELIGIOUS GROUP, JUST BECAUSE OF THE OBVIOUS EXTRA DANGER, AND PERHAPS EVEN THE POLICE SHOULD BE INCLUDED. UP UNTIL RECENTLY THE BRITISH POLICE DIDN’T CARRY GUNS EXCEPT IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES, SUCH AS WHAT WE CALL SWAT TEAMS. FOR AN INTERESTING ARTICLE FROM 2017 ON THAT SUBJECT, GO TO THE NBC NEWS STORY FOLLOWING THIS BY REASON.COM.
SHE NEEDS TO BE CAREFUL IF SHE CAN’T BE GOOD, ESPECIALLY THIS YEAR. PERSONALLY, I DON’T THINK ANY PROTESTER SHOULD HAVE A GUN, OF ANY RACIAL OR RELIGIOUS GROUP, JUST BECAUSE OF THE OBVIOUS EXTRA DANGER, AND PERHAPS EVEN THE POLICE SHOULD BE INCLUDED. UP UNTIL RECENTLY THE BRITISH POLICE DIDN’T CARRY GUNS EXCEPT IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES, SUCH AS WHAT WE CALL SWAT TEAMS. FOR AN INTERESTING ARTICLE FROM 2017 ON THAT SUBJECT, GO TO THE NBC NEWS STORY FOLLOWING THIS BY REASON.COM.
GUN RIGHTS
This Republican Senator Calls Three Black Men Peacefully
Carrying Long Guns 'Mob Rule'
A Second Amendment hypocrite with a plan to undermine federalism
SCOTT SHACKFORD | 6.25.2020 2:00 PM
PHOTOGRAPHS -- Foxguns_1161x653, (Fox News)
This week Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R–Ga.) described a handful of
protesters carrying guns in public as "mob rule."
Is Loeffler the rare conservative politician with a history of
calling for expanded gun controls? That doesn't appear the case. Here's a
tweet from her from January expressing appreciation for National Rifle
Association President Carolyn Meadows:
Senator Kelly Loeffler
@SenatorLoeffler
Great to be back in Atlanta with @NRA President and fellow
Georgian, Carolyn Meadows. Truly appreciate her work in Washington and
around the country to protect and defend our 2nd Amendment Rights. #gapol
4:04 PM · Jan 17, 2020
100
51 people are Tweeting about this
What could possibly make a pro-gun-rights senator suddenly take
such a dim view of citizens' rights to bear arms? Watch this Wednesday segment
from the Fox show America's Newsroom, and the answer becomes apparent pretty
quickly:
Kelly Loeffler
@KLoeffler
Joined @edhenry on @AmericaNewsroom to discuss my efforts to end
the defund the police movement & pass the #JusticeAct. Enough with the
political games from Democrats in Washington.
Americans deserve better. #gapol #gasen
EMBEDDED VIDEO – FOX, SENATE TO VOTE ON POLICE REFORM BILL, 4;28
MIN.
As you can see, Fox interviewed Loeffler amid a montage of
young, armed black people protesting police abuse in Atlanta, where a
cop recently shot and killed Rayshard Brooks. Another Fox host, Sean Hannity,
reported on Tuesday that there were "at least three men brandishing long
guns" near the Wendy's where the incident happened.
Hannity, Fox, and Loeffler all represented this as evidence of
the dangers of defunding police. Indeed, one young man with a gun (who seemed
perfectly polite and respectful) told Fox he was carrying a 12-gauge shotgun
because he didn't believe police officers would protect him, adding that
cops were not going to be "allowed" in this space. Asked what he'd
do if police rolled up and ordered him to drop his weapon, the man insisted he
had the legal right under the Second Amendment of the Constitution to bear
arms: "And at no point will I allow my right to be disturbed." Good
for him!
Carrying long guns in public is legal in Georgia, by the way
(with exceptions for a few places like courts and schools). Fox does not
actually accuse any of these men of breaking any laws. But they clearly intend
viewers to see these men as a threat—and not just because they have put up
barricades and hope to shut out the police, but because they're bearing arms.
By contrast, when a predominantly white group of protesters showed up at
Michigan's capitol in April to protest the state's COVID-19 rules, Fox's coverage
was reasonably neutral and factual, giving voice to critics but pointing
out that guns were legally allowed in the state Capitol building.
Loeffler isn't just a hypocrite about gun rights. She's trying
to undermine another value conservatives are supposed to believe in:
federalism. The senator is introducing legislation that would reduce federal
transportation funding from states and municipalities that cut funding to law
enforcement, unless they can show a "clear budgetary need." The idea
that the states and cities should have to get permission from the U.S.
government to make a budget decision is, of course, absolutely anathema to
local rule. It's up to a community's citizens to determine how much money
their police department should receive—not the U.S. Senate or the Department of
Transportation.
VIDEO -- ReasonTV on the importance of defending open carry
rights in black communities to defend civil rights, 7:06 MIN.
NEXT: The Feds Sent More than 1 Million Coronavirus Stimulus
Payments to Dead People, GAO Says
. . . .
Alex English
@AlexEnglish_2
·
Jun 26
This is a bad look for the
@AtlantaDream
and the
@WNBA
... Donald Sterling vibes.
#blacklivesmatter
Quote Tweet
Shannon Watts
@shannonrwatts
· Jun 24
Republican Georgia Senator @KLoeffler - an @NRA darling who
champions gun rights for her white constituents - calls open carry by Black
Americans “mob rule” and says it endangers civilians and law enforcement.
1.7M views
2:06 MIN.
Copy Video Address
Saif Shaikh
Saif Shaikh, Blogger at Suggestbest
Mumbai Area, India connections
“POLICING BY CONSENT” AND “STRONGER LINKS WITH THE COMMUNITY,”
NOW THAT’S RADICAL. THAT SOUNDS LIKE A BERNIE SANDERS COMMIE PINKO IDEA TO ME. THIS
IS A 2017 ARTICLE FROM BRITAIN, BUT THE SITUATION APPLIES SO CLEARLY HERE IN
THE USA AS WELL, ONLY IN BRITAIN THEY APPROACH POLICING FROM A VERY DIFFERENT VIEW. TO QUOTE A FORMER BRITISH OFFICER, “IN A FREE
AND DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY, THERE IS GOING TO BE A BALANCE BETWEEN DEMOCRACY,
FREEDOM AND OPENNESS, AND A POLICE STATE — AND NONE OF US WANT TO LIVE IN A
POLICE STATE . . . "
The Vast Majority of U.K. Police Don't Carry Guns. Here's Why.
March 23, 2017, 9:13 AM EDT / Updated Sept. 15, 2017, 9:08 AM
EDT
By Alexander Smith
PHOTOGRAPH -- A London police officer blocks off a street
following the attack targeting the U.K. Parliament in March.Carl Court / Getty
Images
LONDON — The terrorism-linked fire aboard a Tube train, the
London Bridge attack and a similar one in March near the heart of Britain's
democracy may have been shocking, but authorities have known for years that
such incidents were coming.
Last year — when Brits watched terrorists strike France,
Germany, and Belgium — London's police chief warned it was a case of
"when, not if" the U.K. joined that list.
And yet more than 90 percent of the capital's police officers
carry out their daily duties without a gun. Most rely on other tools to keep
their city safe: canisters of mace, handcuffs, batons and occasionally
stun-guns.
This is no accident.
VIDEO -- London's Unarmed Bobbies Manage to Keep the Peace
AUG. 19, 2016, 01:13 MIN.
The Metropolitan Police, which covers most of London, was
founded in 1829 on the principle of "policing by consent" rather than
by force.
Giving everyday police officers guns sends the wrong message to
communities, so this thinking goes, and can actually cause more problems
than it solves.
Although there are higher numbers of armed police guarding
Parliament, the attacker who rushed its gates in March was shot dead by a
relatively rare member of the country's security forces — one who had been
trained to use a firearm.
INSERT -- "None of us want to live in a police state"
Some of these gun-wielding officers patrol the city in pairs,
others are members of crack response teams — units
dressed in body-armor, helmets and carrying long rifles — who are called to the
scene of violent incidents like these.
In most instances, they don't use their weapons.
In the year up to March 2016, police in England and Wales only
fired seven bullets. (Although these government
figures do not include accidental shots, shooting out tires, or killing
dangerous or injured animals.)
IMAGE: Counterterrorism
officersCounterterrorism officers with London's Metropolitan Police.Kirsty
Wigglesworth / AP
These officers fatally shot just five people during that period,
according to British charity Inquest, which helps families after
police-related deaths.
In August, when a teenager suffering an episode of paranoid
schizophrenia killed an American tourist in a busy London street, armed police
rushed to the scene but not a single bullet was fired.
They were able to subdue the attacker, Zakaria Bulhan, using a
stun-gun. And no one else, bar 64-year-old American Darlene Horton, who had
already been stabbed to death, was hurt.
The Metropolitan Police carried out some 3,300 deployments
involving firearms in 2016. They didn't fire a single shot at a suspect.
It's a world away from the United States, where cops killed
1,092 people in 2016, according to figures compiled by The Guardian.
Of course it's easier for police to remain unarmed if civilians
do the same. Out of every 100 people in Britain, fewer than four of them
owns a firearm, according to GunPolicy.org, a project run by Australia's
University of Sydney. In the U.S. there is more than one gun per person.
IMAGE: Parsons Green Incident, Members
of the emergency services work outside Parsons Green Tube station after a fire
on a train Friday.Daniel Leal-Olivas / AFP - Getty Images
While British officials have long since accepted that an attack
is "highly likely," they believe that intelligence-gathering and
stronger links with the community — rather than gun-toting cops — will do more
to keep the city safer.
RECOMMENDED ARTICLES:
*DONALD TRUMP, Trump administration asks Supreme Court to strike
down Obamacare amid pandemic, recession
*CORONAVIRUS, Supreme Court rejects mail-in voting for all in
Texas during pandemic
"In a free and democratic society, there is going to be
a balance between democracy, freedom and openness, and a police state — and
none of us want to live in a police state," said Brian Dillon, former head
of the Met's firearms command who now runs the counterterrorism consultancy
Rubicon Resilience.
"Therefore at some point some attacks are regrettably going
to hit home, that's inevitable," he added. "Not everything can be
stopped."
While shootings involving police are relatively common in the
U.S., authorities in Britain say they review each one with painstaking
diligence.
Every time a British police officer shoots and injures or kills
someone, it is automatically referred to an separate watchdog called the Independent
Police Complaints Commission, or IPCC.
This process is not without its critics.
Some police have complained that officers are reluctant to sign
up for firearms training because they fear being dragged through years of lengthy
investigations in the unlikely event they have to use their weapon.
"Officers have seen what happens to their colleagues who
have had to use lethal force to protect the public," outgoing Metropolitan
Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe told reporters earlier this year. "Increasingly,
they seem to be portrayed as suspects, based, I can only assume, on an
underlying belief that they must have acted in a criminal fashion if someone
has died."
Families of people shot by police have also alleged the IPCC
treated them insensitively, and in 2014 the watchdog released an internal
review, "apologizing for our mistakes, and doing our best to put them
right."
British police are attempting to recruit more firearms officers
but the overwhelming majority will remain unarmed. Officials believe they have
the balance about right.
"An attacker attempted to break into Parliament and was
shot dead within 20 yards of the gate," Prime Minister Theresa May told
lawmakers after the March attack. "If his intention was to gain access
to this building we should be clear that he did not succeed. The police
heroically did their job."
*Alexander Smith is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital based
in London.
*Michele Neubert and Marc Smith contributed.
ADULT EDUCATION FOR THE COMPLACENT -- HOMELESSNESS IN LOS ANGELES CONTINUES TO BE A HUGE PROBLEM. I
FIRST HEARD OF THIS A FEW YEARS AGO, IN WHICH THE DOCUMENTARY MENTIONED THE
FACT THAT THE COST OF RENTALS IS UNAFFORDABLY HIGH IN CALIFORNIA, WITH NUMEROUS PEOPLE
LIVING IN THEIR CARS. THERE ARE CERTAIN PARKING LOTS WHERE THEY ARE ALLOWED TO
PARK AT NIGHT. IN THIS FILM BELOW, ONE OF THE PEOPLE INTERVIEWED HAS A DEGREE
AND A JOB, BUT HE CAN’T AFFORD A PLACE TO RENT. TO ECHO WHAT BERNIE SANDERS
SAID ON THE DRUG PROFITEERING GOING ON NOW THAT A TREATMENT FOR COVID IS READY TO COME
OUT, ALLOWING RENTS TO BE SO HIGH THAT PEOPLE ARE FORCED OUT ONTO THE STREETS IS “BEYOND DISGUSTING." R E N T C O N T R O L.
ON THE STREETS -- a feature documentary on homelessness in L.A.
3,271,435 views • Mar 25, 2016
UPS 21K DOWNS
1.8K
Los Angeles Times
358K subscribers
'On the Streets' is a 12-part video series about homelessness in
Los Angeles. Journalist and filmmaker Lisa Biagiotti tackles this complex issue
by putting faces to the statistics.
She starts by following The L.A.Times' homeless data map, and
sets out to have conversations with people who do not have homes. Since
October, Biagiotti has been learning about their varied experiences and
connecting their stories to larger issues. Along the way, she gains input and
insights from Angelenos.
The series concept is to build a dynamic documentary
scene-by-scene with our audience. Thank you for participating and helping us
tell this story.
ON THE STREETS:
http://www.latimes.com/onthestreets
SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE VIDEOS AND NEWS:
http://www.youtube.com/subscription_c...
LET'S CONNECT:
Google+ ► https://plus.google.com/+latimes
Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/latimes
RACHEL MADDOW IS ON THE JOB, WITH THE USUAL TIMELY INTERVIEWS ON
A NUMBER OF SERIOUS CURRENT NEWS STORIES.
BILL BARR’S JUSTICE
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/barr-interfered-in-sdny-cases-tied-to-trump-interests-nyt-86030917607
RACHEL MADDOW 05:56 MIN.
Barr interfered in SDNY cases tied to Trump interests: NYT
SHARE THIS - COPIED
Rachel Maddow looks at a new report from the New York Times that
Bill Barr exerted influence on federal prosecutors in cases tied to Donald
Trump from the beginning of his time as attorney general, including the Stormy
Daniels hush money case.
June 25, 2020
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/barr-micromanagement-out-of-proportion-on-trump-tied-cases-nyt-86031429769
06:03 MIN.
RACHEL MADDOW
Barr micromanagement out of proportion on Trump-tied cases: NYT
SHARE THIS - COPIED
Katie Benner, Justice Department reporter for the New York
Times, talks with Rachel Maddow about new reporting that Bill Barr pressured
federal prosecutors at the Southern District of New York office on cases with
ties to Donald Trump.
June 25, 2020
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/us-squandered-costly-lockdown-failed-to-stem-coronavirus-86030405711
RACHEL MADDOW
Trump admin failure on coronavirus threatens unity of the states
SHARE THIS - COPIED
Rachel Maddow looks at how the absence of federal leadership and
the failure of governance by the Trump administration in addressing the
coronavirus disaster has left the states in competition and conflict with each
other.
June 24, 2020
03:16 MIN.
RACHEL MADDOW
Confederate monument removals a mark of progress long in coming
SHARE THIS - COPIED
Rachel Maddow looks at how the removal of Confederate monuments
is being viewed by members of the communities that have lived in their shadows
for generations.
June 24, 2020
10:05 MIN.
RACHEL MADDOW
Rice: 'Makes no sense' that Trump wasn't told of Russia bounties
SHARE THIS - COPIED
Susan Rice, former national security advisor in the Obama
administration, talks with Rachel Maddow about shocking reporting that Russia
paid Taliban fighters to kill U.S. service members and that Donald Trump,
upon learning this, did not do anything.
June 29, 2020
IS SUSAN RICE ON THE SHORT LIST FOR BIDEN’S VP?
01:30 MIN.
RACHEL MADDOW
Rice: No higher imperative for U.S. than electing Joe Biden
SHARE THIS - COPIED
Susan Rice, former national security advisor in the Obama
administration, talks with Rachel Maddow about reports that she is under
consideration to be Joe Biden's running mate and her willingness to do whatever
is asked of her to help Biden win in 2020.
June 29, 2020
RACHEL MADDOW 1:19 MIN.
Rising hospitalizations expose fallacy of testing-driven surge
in COVID-19
SHARE THIS - COPIED
Rachel Maddow points out that while Donald Trump and his
acolytes have blaming spiking coronavirus numbers on increased testing, the
testing does not explain the increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations.
June 23, 2020
“SURGE CAPACITY” OF ICU HOSPITAL BEDS IS COMPARED TO HURRICANE
HARVEY. THREE VIGNETTES.
TRIAGE STANDARDS IN A “SURGE STATUS,” AS IS CURRENTLY OCCURRING
WITH COVID 19 IN SOME PLACES, INCLUDES THE QUESTION OF “HOW MANY MONTHS OR
YEARS ARE [THE COVID-19 PATIENTS] LIKELY TO HAVE LEFT” WITHOUT THE COVID FACTOR.
HE MENTIONS THAT THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION WILL BE “PUT INTO AN ALGORITHM,” WHICH TO ME
IMPLIES THAT A COMPUTER WILL MAKE THE DECISION. NONE OF THAT COMFORTS ME. I
WONDER HOW MUCH DIFFERENCE THE ABILITY TO PAY MAKES.
RACHEL MADDOW
Doctors face tough choices, narrowing options on COVID in
Arizona
SHARE THIS -
COPIED
Will Humble, former director of the Arizona Department of Health
Services, talks with Rachel Maddow about how dwindling hospital bed space for
COVID-19 patients in Arizona means doctors may have to make hard choices about
who gets a bed as the spread of the virus progresses.
June 26, 2020
MSNBC
Houston area hospitals running out beds for COVID-19 patients
Dr. Cedrick Dark, emergency medicine physician in Houston,
Texas, talks with Rachel Maddow about how the surge in coronavirus cases in the
Houston area is putting a strain on hospital resources.
June 26, 2020
RACHEL MADDOW
Counties struggle with consequences of rash Texas reopening
SHARE THIS - COPIED
Judge Lina Hidalgo of Harris County, Texas, talks with Rachel Maddow
about how her county's health workers are trying to stay ahead of the surge in
COVID-19 cases and why they way the state reopened is making matters worse.
June 24, 2020
**** **** ****
****
