Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

You can’t stop a worldwide pandemic without an international effort, and the US is about to go big in that regard. The country will be donating not millions, but hundreds of millions of vaccine doses to countries that desperately need them.

Meanwhile, Idaho’s lieutenant governor, who is seeking higher office, is caught on video palling around with a militia leader. It’s just another day for the Republican Party!

And lastly, Joe Biden wants to close Guantanamo Bay by the end of his first term. And he’s taking an approach that’s a little bit different than Barack Obama’s – basically hoping that if they don’t make a fuss about it, maybe the opposition in Congress won’t notice.

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Finally we’re talking serious numbers. The Washington Post reports that the Biden administration is buying five hundred million doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine to donate to the world, as the United States dramatically increases its efforts to help vaccinate the global population. The first two hundred million doses will be distributed this year, with the rest shared in the first half of next year. The doses will be distributed by Covax, the World Health Organization-backed initiative, and they will be targeted at low- and middle-income countries. Pfizer is selling the doses to the US at a not-for-profit price. President Joe Biden is slated to announce the plan at the Group of Seven meeting in Britain this week amid growing calls for rich countries to do more to boost the global supply of coronavirus vaccine.

According to the Post, the question of how to end the pandemic is expected to be front and center at the G-7 summit this week. In the lead-up to the meeting, Biden’s vaccine-sharing strategy has been under intense scrutiny. Questions about how to proceed have intensified in recent weeks as cases in the United States have receded, and infections have surged in some developing countries, leading to charges of vaccine apartheid. More than half the populations in the US and Britain have had at least one dose, compared with fewer than two percent of people in Africa. It’s a disparity that can only prolong the global pandemic but, fortunately, some powerful people seem to realize that.

Idaho Lt Governor Meets Militia Leader

This snapshot of the far right’s rise comes from the Guardian. Idaho’s Republican lieutenant governor and gubernatorial candidate, Janice McGeachin, attended a gathering where she was endorsed in a glowing speech by a rightwing militia leader. A video shows Eric Parker, who was charged over his role in the standoff in 2014 at Bundy Ranch in New Mexico, reminding McGeachin that she previously told him, "if I get in, you’re going to have a friend in the governor’s office.". In the same speech, Parker says that when he sought McGeachin’s assistance in the case of Todd Engel – another Bundy Ranch attendee who was sentenced to fourteen years in prison – he showed her sealed evidence from the trial. He recalled saying to her, I’m not sure this is legal, and that she replied, I want to see it. Afterward, she started writing letters to the Justice Department and rallying support on behalf of the imprisoned man.

According to the Guardian, Parker posted the speech video on his Telegram channel on May 19, the same day that McGeachin announced her candidacy for governor, where she may be up against the incumbent, fellow Republican Brad Little. McGeachin has encountered previous controversies involving links with extremist groups. In 2018 she refused to answer questions as to whether she was using Three Percenters as security during her gubernatorial run. She has also offered support to anti-mask protesters in the state. For the new model Republican, there’s no such thing as too extreme.

Biden Plans Guantanamo Bay Closure

Can Joe Biden succeed where Barack Obama failed? NBC News reports that President Biden has quietly begun efforts to close the US military prison camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. He is using an under-the-radar approach to minimize political blowback and to make progress in resolving a long-standing legal and human rights morass before the twentieth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. After initial plans for a more aggressive push to close the facility, the White House changed course. The administration has opted to wait before it reaches out to Congress, which has thwarted previous efforts to close the camp, because of fears that political outcry might interfere with the rest of Biden's agenda. The administration hopes to transfer a handful of the remaining terrorism suspects to

foreign countries, and then persuade Congress to permit the transfer of the rest – including 9/11 suspects – to detention on the US mainland. Biden hopes to close the facility by the end of his first term.

According to NBC, the low-key strategy is a response to miscalculations that Biden administration officials believe Obama made. The administration is leaning against the option of transferring detainees to US military installations, another shift from the Obama administration's approach. The Biden administration may, instead, propose that any detainees who are not eligible for transfer to foreign countries be moved to so-called Supermax security prisons on the US mainland, notably the one in Florence, Colorado. It’s not justice, but it’s probably better than the status quo.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

CNN reports that the Trump administration battled with the network to obtain the email records of a reporter. The pursuit – which started in July 2020 with a demand for two months’ of Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr’s email logs – continued even after a federal judge told the Justice Department its argument was, 'unanchored in any facts." We’re only finding out now because the government demanded secrecy. Sketchy!

The Washington Post reports that the Biden administration will toss out Donald Trump’s efforts to scale back the number of wetlands that fall under federal protection. Michael Regan, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, said Trump’s rollback is leading to significant environmental degradation. Guess he drained the wrong swamps.

NBC reports that the wife of El Chapo has agreed to plead guilty to helping him run his Mexican drug cartel. Emma Coronel Aispuro, a former beauty queen, will appear by video to enter her plea this morning. So that’s a wrap for the war on drugs, right?

The Associated Press says a Moscow court last night outlawed the organizations founded by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny by labeling them extremist. The label carries lengthy prison terms for activists who worked with the organizations, anyone who donated to them, and even those who simply shared the groups’ materials. Maybe Biden can sort this out when he meets with Vladimir Putin in Geneva next week, ya think?

AM QUICKIE - JUNE 10, 2021

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

A groundbreaking report from ProPublica shines a light on how the worlds’ richest people are avoiding paying taxes.

Meanwhile, leftist teacher Pedro Castillo has a narrow lead in Peru’s presidential election, while his right-wing opponent is making wild claims of fraud.

And lastly, the United Mine Workers strike is in its third month, and workers on the picket line have weathered physical attacks while the media and Biden Administration stays silent.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Nonprofit investigative outlet Propublica got its hands on the scoop of the year so far, showing us the dirty details of how billionaires hide their wealth and avoid paying taxes.

That may sound like a familiar refrain, but the data involved is stuff we’ve never seen before. Propublica says the massive trove of IRS data was provided to them in a raw, unedited form, and the story out on Tuesday is the product of weeks of careful editing and reporting.

The data shows that Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Michael Bloomberg and many other billionaires often pay precisely zero dollars in federal income taxes, despite their massive net worth.

Propublica reports that they gleaned this through the massive dump of data, which shows not just tax records but investments, stock trades, gambling winnings and even the results of audits.

Put together, it tells a story that we all know: that these people are not paying their fair share. For years, though, that’s been an easy truth for many in government to avoid, which is why reporting like this is so vital. Already, it’s reignited calls from Elizabeth Warren and other prominent politicians to institute a wealth tax, which would put a tax on any person’s total net worth, not just their income.

It’s almost a given that these billionaires would seek ways to get out of that too. But the fact is right now, they don’t even have to try.

Peruvian Leftist In Lead for Presidency

A huge presidential election is underway in Peru. Voting ended on Sunday, but the margin is razor thin as results continue to filter in.

Right now, though, there’s good news: the leftist candidate, a teacher named Pedro Castillo, is up by roughly 70,000 votes.

His opponent, of course, is crying fraud. Her name is Keiko Fujimori, and she’s the daughter of Peru’s last right-wing dictator, who is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for his role in civilian massacres. You can see how this race is shaping up already.

Analysts told the Guardian that Fujimori’s fraud claims were an act of desperation. International observers did not report any irregularities in the election. It’s worth noting that Fujimori has been accused of various counts of campaign corruption, similar to her father.

Castillo, meanwhile, is the former leader of Peru’s teachers union. He’s currently the top candidate in the Peru Libre party, which has pretty strong marxist policies that favor widespread resource nationalisation, higher taxes, and import substitution, according to the Guardian. Castillo has also pledged to rewrite the Peruvian constitution in a more equitable way, which the Guardian reports has terrified the country’s elite.

All these themes should sound familiar by now -- so fingers crossed Castillo becomes the latest big winner for the global left wing.

Warrior Met Workers Weather Attacks on Strike

We touched on this yesterday, but there’s a story in Alabama that deserves a closer look. For the past two months and change, 1100 workers at two coal mines owned by a company called Warrior Met have been on strike, as their union battles a management force that seems prepared to do anything to break them down.

The miners are represented by the United Mine Workers, which was forced to make huge concessions when mining companies started to go bankrupt a few years back. But now, as the coal industry has recovered some post pandemic, the workers are still living on a razor’s edge.

So they did what organized labor has done for centuries: they stopped working. But now the UMA says that Warrior Met is pulling out the stops to break the strike, including in at least three instances hitting striking workers with vehicles driven by people associated with the company’s management.

In the Week magazine on Tuesday, writer Ryan Cooper made a great point: where is Joe Biden on this? When Amazon was brutally suppressing a Union campaign in the same state, Biden released at least some acknowledgement of labor’s right to organize there. But when it comes to coal, the Biden Administration is silent, even though the barest mention of the Warrior Met workers could drive a huge amount of attention to their plight.

Keep an eye on this story this week -- with any luck, it’ll start getting some traction in the wider media.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

The confusion we’re all feeling with the Democratic party isn’t unique to the left. NBC News reports that a survey of new democratic focus groups found that many voters quote "have trouble describing a clear positive vision of what the Democratic Party stands for.” endquote. That’s on the party leadership, and they’re running out of excuses fast.

French President Emmanuel Macron got slapped -- yes, slapped in the face -- by a protester during a public appearance on Tuesday morning. Heads of state feeling the heat! Imagine that.

We’ve got a very odd tidbit in the New York City Mayoral Race today: it’s unclear to anyone where Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams actually lives, and Politico reports that he’s often seen arriving at his office at midnight or in the early morning. He said he was living in his office earlier in the year to combat COVID-19, and may have just... continued to do so while campaigning. Bit strange, but ok!

And finally, a small point of well, not hope, but who knows. The Intercept reports that Republican Senators aren’t sure that Joe Manchin’s infuriating defense of the filibuster will hold, meaning that if his GOP overlords are nervous, there might be a chance that someone in the Democratic party can get through to him. We’ll see!

AM QUICKIE - JUNE 9, 2021

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Jack Crosbie

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

Pipeline protesters seized a key construction site and carried out numerous acts of civil disobedience on Monday in an attempt to slow down the construction of the Line 3 pipeline route across Minnesota.

Meanwhile, Kamala Harris gets back in touch with her roots as a cop, delivering a staunch warning in Guatemala to any people there who would dare to try to make a better life for themselves in the United States.

And lastly a new report from Motherboard shows that Amazon’s furniture delivery service is causing chaos for the company’s already under-paid and over-worked drivers.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

A new major pipeline protest is underway in Minnesota, where native-led activists are trying to halt the construction of the Line 3 project between that state and Canada.

The project is owned by a Canadian oil company called Enbridge. On Monday, the Washington Post reports that dozens of cars filled with activists had descended on a construction site operated by the company.

They were led by a group of native american activists, and were joined by celebrities like Jane Fonda and Catherine Keener, who rallied the crowd as some protesters strapped themselves to bulldozers and other equipment.

Fonda said quote: “Biden has taken a very clear and very beautiful position on the climate crisis. But we are really facing a potential catastrophe, and the science is very clear: it’s not enough to do something good here ——like shutdown Keystone XL, shut down drilling on the Arctic national refuge ——and then allow Line 3 to go through.” endquote.

And in practice, the Biden administration’s point was a whole lot less beautiful. Reporters on the ground caught video of a Department of Homeland Security Helicopter dangerously buzzing another group of protesters on the ground at a pumping station, trying to use the backwash from its rotors to scare off activists.

According to the Post, the indigenous activists leading the campaign see two threats from the pipeline: the existential risk of climate change, and the direct risk of the pipeline polluting tribal lands in the headwaters of the Mississippi River.

If Monday’s demonstrations are any indication, they’re willing to fight to keep it from happening.

Kamala the Cop Goes Abroad

Kamala the cop is back. The Vice President is down on her first international trip, playing enforcer for Joe Biden’s new immigration policies in Guatemala.

She came with a carrot before the stick, of course. Harris was acting as the ambassador of a four year plan to send more than $4 billion dollars to Central America and Mexico in an attempt to improve the economic hardships that drive mass immigration to the U.S.

According to the New York Times, this money will go toward things like investing in young women entrepreneurs and creating an anti-corruption task force for the region.

That’s all well and good, but Kamala was equally clear when she laid out what will happen to those people who don’t place their faith in nebulous U.S. aid, and instead seek refuge in the country by any means necessary.

Harris said: "Do not come. Do not come. The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our border.” Later, she added quote: “I believe if you come to our border, you will be turned back.”

While there are some differences between how that kind of policy will play out under Biden, the core message that VP Harris is delivering sounds pretty familiar: it’s the same one we’ve been hearing for the past four years.

Amazon Forces Drivers to Build Furniture

Another day, another scoop by Motherboard on the dystopian Amazon beat. Today, the website reports that Amazon has made an unexpected foray into furniture assembly in order to crowd out other retailers that offer similar services.

Motherboard reports that as a result, untrained delivery drivers are being made to lug bulky items into customers houses and then assemble them, all on a timeframe that they say is wildly unrealistic for what’s expected.

To make matters all the more absurd, Motherboard also obtained the training video for this service, which is a strange cartoon narrated by a monotonous robot featuring robotic workers who deliver lines like quote: “Thanks so much for choosing us! Could you confirm you are satisfied with this delivery and service?” endquote.

Meanwhile, here’s what an actual human driver told Motherboard QUOTE:

"It has been an [EFFING] challenge. It always takes much longer than they allow for. The times they give feel completely random and way off. And there's been absolutely no training whatsoever. They just said you're going to do this."

And as we well know by now, it’s almost impossible to argue with Amazon.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

While his workers are suffering, Jeff Bezos announced that he’s going to space. The billionaire plans to be one of the crew on the first manned flight of a Blue Origin spacecraft in mid July. Good luck up there, Jeff! We’ll all be very interested to see how that flight goes.

Scientists from Scripps and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Monday that atmospheric CO2 levels peaked in May, despite the slowdown in fossil fuel use during the pandemic. Not even that respite was enough to stem the constant buildup of CO2.

Something to watch later this week: the New York Times reports that the Senate is preparing to pass a massive package of industrial policy legislation with bipartisan support, aimed at keeping the U.S. competitive with China. It’s amazing what handouts to corporate interests and xenophobic jingoism can do to break the Washington gridlock!

The United Mine Workers say that the bosses at Warrior Met Coal have stepped up their physical attacks on striking workers at coal mines in Alabama, on three separate instances hitting picketers with vehicles, in a shocking display of aggression against organized labor.

AM QUICKIE - JUNE 8, 2021

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Jack Crosbie

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

Senator Joe Manchin announced on Sunday that he would vote against the For the People Act, the Democrats’ landmark voting rights legislation, because it was too partisan.

Meanwhile, Israeli police detain two Palestinian journalists who had been documenting the ongoing aggressive takeover of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

And lastly, vaccination rates in the U.S. are declining again, forcing a massive outreach program to meet President Biden’s goal of 70% vaccinated by July 4.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Joe Manchin has abandoned all pretense of working for the Democratic party. On Sunday, in an op-ed for the Charleston Gazette, the supposedly Democratic Senator said he would vote against his party’s landmark voting rights legislation, effectively dooming its chances of becoming a law.

Manchin’s reasoning was as absurd as you’d expect. He called the bill, known as the For the People Act, too partisan. His evidence for this was that it had failed to attract a single Republican vote of support. It’s obvious why this was: Republicans know that they won’t win elections if the For the People Act is passed, because voter suppression is the only play they have.

On some level, Manchin must know this. But in the same op-ed, he also vowed to never vote against the filibuster, which makes his stance perfectly clear: he wants to hold his own party hostage to his own misguided agenda.

Manchin indicated that he would support another voting rights bill, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement act, that doesn’t go as far as the For the People Act. But without an end to the filibuster, Manchin knows that bill doesn’t have much of a chance of passing either. It’s enough to make you wonder which party he’s really working for.

Israel Arrests Palestinian Journalists

Israeli police on Sunday detained two Palestinian journalists who have been documenting the forced colonization of their homes since they were children.

Mohammed and Muna El-Kurd are twin siblings who live in Sheikh Jarrah, the neighborhood at the center of last month’s initial conflict between Israeli settlers and Palestinian residents. Their family home is one of those targeted for eviction by Israeli court orders, and the El-Kurd twins have been documenting the case and their lives under Israeli occupation since they were kids, amassing a considerable following on social media.

On Sunday, Israeli officers arrested and handcuffed Muna at her home, while Mohammed turned himself in after receiving a summons. The police claimed Muna had participated in a riot in the community recently, which is as thin and nebulous of an accusation as it sounds.

They were released hours later. Muna El-Kurd said in a statement on the Sheikh Jarrah Instagram page quote: "It's clear that these are policies to silence people, policies to pressure and scare people.” endquote.

The El-Kurds aren’t the first journalists targeted in recent days. On Saturday, Israeli police violently arrested Al Jazeera correspondent Givara Budeiri as she covered a sit-in marking the 54th anniversary of Israel's 1967 occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. She was later released but with an absurd condition: that she not report on the situation in Sheikh Jarrah for at least 15 days. If that’s not direct suppression of the press, I don’t know what is.

Vaccination Rates Take a Dive

Finally, the Washington Post reports that Joe Biden’s vaccination blitz is not looking very blitz-like at the moment.

The United States is averaging fewer than 1 million shots per day, a decline of more than two-thirds from the peak of 3.4 million in April, the Post reports. Biden wanted to have 70 percent of all adults vaccinated by July 4th, but that’s looking less and less likely by the day.

In response, the Post reports that the government and local health clinics are deploying small armies of health workers and volunteers at vaccination sites, often out-numbering the people who come to get the shot.

Vaccination rates are falling across the South and Midwest, despite good numbers from the big cities on the East and West Coast. The Post reports that this steep decline began in mid-April, right when the government temporarily suspended the Johnson & Johnson vaccine while they probed rare blood-clotting reactions.

The group that still needs the vaccine is, predictably, the people who are most resistant to it or the worst educated about it. That puts the burden of public health on the government to reach these people, but based on the current numbers, Biden’s campaign is falling way short.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

Did you miss him? Donald Trump held one of his first public speeches in months in North Carolina on Saturday. You’ll never guess what he talked about: conspiracies, voter fraud, and far-right talking points. That’s what we have to look forward to for a long time to come.

The White House says that 31 million Americans now have healthcare coverage through the Affordable Care Act. That’s nice and all, but there are almost 330 million people in this country, and all of them deserve healthcare.

The New York Times reports that the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan is predictably hindering the country’s other efforts to wage war in the region, like impeding CIA efforts to continue carrying out clandestine operations. It’s a good reminder that troop withdrawals are only the tip of our country’s monumental iceberg of war.

Global leaders agreed to the Biden administration’s proposed tax plan over the weekend, giving the green light to a mandatory 15 percent minimum tax rate on corporate profits, regardless of where those companies base their headquarters.

JUN 7, 2021 - AM QUCKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Jack Crosbie

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

There’s a new scandal nipping at the heels of Donald Trump’s favorite Postal Service bureaucrat, Louis DeJoy. And – bad news for him – it involves the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Meanwhile, a United Nations report from Libya reveals that, possibly for the first time, a drone powered by artificial intelligence selected, pursued and attacked human targets – all on its own. That’ll be enough about the wonders of technology, thanks.

And lastly, the Biden administration is stepping up US shipments of coronavirus vaccines to foreign countries in a big way. It’s an overdue but welcome measure to fight the virus in places where it’s still spreading out of control.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

He’s one of Trump’s last holdovers, but maybe not for long. The Washington Post reports that the FBI is investigating Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in connection with campaign fundraising activity involving his former business. FBI agents in recent weeks interviewed current and former employees of DeJoy and the business, asking questions about political contributions and company activities. Prosecutors also issued a subpoena to DeJoy himself. A DeJoy spokesman confirmed the investigation but insisted DeJoy had not knowingly violated any laws. The inquiries could signal legal peril for the controversial head of the nation’s mail service – though DeJoy has not been charged with any crimes. Asked yesterday whether President Joe Biden believed DeJoy should step down, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden would leave the process to the Department of Justice.

The Post says DeJoy – who was appointed to run the Postal Service by its board of governors last May – has been dogged by controversy for almost his entire time in office. Soon after starting in the job, he imposed cost-cutting moves that mail carriers blamed for creating backlogs across the country. Democrats accused the prominent GOP fundraiser, who personally gave more than $1.1 million to Trump’s reelection campaign and the Republican

Party, of trying to undermine his own organization because of Trump’s distrust of mail-in voting. And they were totally right about that. But it seems it’ll be other, previously hidden misdeeds that bring down this dastardly saboteur. Hey, whatever does the trick.

UN Report: AI Drone Attacked Humans

This preview of the next Terminator movie comes from the New York Times. A military drone that attacked soldiers during a battle in Libya’s civil war last year may have done so without human control, according to a recent report commissioned by the United Nations. The drone, which the report described as a lethal autonomous weapons systems, was powered by artificial intelligence. It was used by forces backed by the government based in Tripoli, the capital, against enemy militia fighters as they ran away from rocket attacks. The fighters were hunted down and remotely engaged by the drone, according to the report. It did not say whether there were any casualties or injuries. The weapons systems, it said, were "programmed to attack targets without requiring data connectivity between the operator and the munition: in effect a true fire, forget and find capability.: The Kargu-2 was built by STM, a defense company based in Turkey.

The Times says the report has been sent to a UN sanctions committee for review. The drone, a Kargu-2, was used as soldiers tried to flee. Once in retreat, they were subject to continual harassment from the drone, according to the report, which was written by the UN Panel of Experts on Libya. Zachary Kallenborn, a researcher who studies drone warfare at the University of Maryland, said the report suggested that for the first time, a weapons systems with artificial intelligence capability operated autonomously to find and attack humans. What a landmark. Oh boy.

Biden Boosts Overseas Vaccine Shipments

This global pandemic update comes from the Associated Press. President Biden announced yesterday that the US will donate a first tranche of twenty five million doses of surplus vaccine overseas through the UN-backed Covax program. The donation promises infusions for South and Central America, Asia, Africa and others at a time of glaring shortages abroad and more than ample supplies at home. The doses mark a substantial – and immediate – boost to the lagging Covax effort, which to date has shared just seventy six million doses with needy countries. The announcement came just hours after World Health Organization officials in Africa made a new plea for vaccine sharing because of an alarming situation on the continent, where shipments have ground to a near halt while virus cases have spiked.

The AP says that overall, the White House has announced plans to share eighty million doses globally by the end of June. Of the first nineteen million donated through Covax, approximately six million doses will go to South and Central America, seven million to Asia and five million to Africa. The remaining six million in the initial distribution will be directed to US allies and partners. In a statement, Biden said, "As long as this pandemic is raging anywhere in the world, the American people will still be vulnerable. And the United States is committed to bringing the same urgency to international vaccination efforts that we have demonstrated at home.". Remember, this isn’t over until it’s over everywhere.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

The Guardian reports that the Ethiopian government has brushed aside international calls for a ceasefire in the province of Tigray, saying its forces will soon eliminate all armed opposition. The UN said earlier this week that more than ninety percent of people in Tigray need emergency food aid. Between the starvation and the atrocities, it’s a true horrorshow.

ABC News reports that workers at a South Dakota meatpacking plant that became a coronavirus hotspot last year are considering a strike after contract negotiations between Smithfield Foods and the union have stalled. The Sioux Falls chapter of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union said workers have risked their health and lives throughout the pandemic, arguing the company should do more for its employees. Who can argue?

According to Politico, federal prosecutors are examining whether Representative Matt Gaetz obstructed justice during a phone call he had with a witness in the sex-crimes investigation of the Florida congressman. The obstruction inquiry stems from a phone call the witness had with Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend. At some point during the conversation, the ex-girlfriend patched Gaetz into the call. Awkward!

The AP reports that George P. Bush this week launched his next political move: a run for Texas attorney general in 2022. Bush, who has served as Texas’ land commissioner since 2015, is the son of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. He is the last of the Bush family still in public office. Now that’s worth a good clap.

AM QUICKIE - JUNE 4, 2021

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

Democrats including President Joe Biden are losing patience with Senator Joe Manchin. He’s waffling on supporting a nationwide voting rights package that could be crucial to the party’s electoral future.

Meanwhile, cleanup and containment efforts are underway off the coast of Sri Lanka, where a sinking container ship threatens environmental disaster. The beaches are suffocated with tiny plastic pellets, and now there are worries about an oil spill, as well.

And lastly, the evidence is in on the effects of the stimulus checks that went out to Americans earlier this year, and guess what – they really helped people! It looks like there’s something to the old saying that the problem with poor people is that they don’t have enough money.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

This spotlight on a weak link in the ruling Congressional coalition comes from the Washington Post. Democratic leaders and activists are stepping up pressure on Senator Joe Manchin to support legislation to fight Republican-led voting restrictions across the country. Party officials are concluding that the battle over voting rights could come down to what the centrist Democrat from West Virginia does. In a rare show of public frustration with his own party on Tuesday, President Biden appeared to lash out at Manchin when he accused a pair of unnamed senators of aligning too closely with Republicans and stalling efforts to pass sweeping voting standards. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer recently announced that his chamber would vote this month on a House-passed elections bill co-sponsored by every Democratic senator except Manchin – a move that would force Manchin to pick a side. Even some of Manchin’s Democratic colleagues are beginning to prod him more aggressively to join their cause, while activists and civil rights leaders are loudly decrying his hesitation.

According to the Post, Manchin has said his overriding concern is a lack of bipartisan support for the measure. But Democrats increasingly see an existential threat from Republican-led state governments determined to place new limits on voting, which critics say would disproportionately affect voters of color, a core part of the Democratic coalition. One

Democratic congressional aide said panic is the right word to describe the mood in the party. By all rights, though, Manchin is the one who should be sweating.

Sri Lanka Faces Environmental Disaster

This is just tragic. NBC News reports that a cargo ship laden with chemicals sank yesterday after nearly two weeks ablaze off the west coast of Sri Lanka, worsening fears of a major environmental disaster. The vessel has already left the country’s coastline covered in tons of plastic pellets and now threatens to spill oil into its rich fishing waters. The government has banned fishing, a crucial industry, along fifty miles of coast in the wake of the incident. Authorities have also deployed hundreds of soldiers to clean affected beaches and warned residents not to touch the debris because it could be contaminated with harmful chemicals. Where there was once gold sand and coconut trees, there is now a sea of plastic waste.

A Sri Lankan Navy spokesman told NBC News yesterday that an effort to tow the ship into deeper waters was not successful and had to be abandoned halfway through. Silva said there was water inside the ship and their main concern was the possibility of an oil spill, although they had not yet observed any oil slicks. The fire-ravaged ship was transporting one thousand four hundred and eight six containers, including twenty five tons of nitric acid, along with other chemicals and cosmetics. As the fire was being extinguished, flaming containers laden with chemicals had fallen from the ship's deck or broken open on the deck, spilling their cargo into the sea. It shows how our economic system sometimes does damage that cannot be undone.

Stimulus Checks Reduced Hunger, Anxiety

This social science deep dive comes from the New York Times. In offering Americans two rounds of stimulus checks in the past six months, totaling $2,000 a person, the government effectively conducted a huge experiment in safety net policy. A new analysis of Census Bureau surveys argues that the two latest rounds of aid significantly improved Americans’ ability to buy food and pay household bills and reduced anxiety and depression. The largest benefits went to the poorest households and those with children. The analysis offers the fullest look at hardship reduction under the stimulus aid. Among households with children, reports of food shortages fell forty two percent from January through April. A broader gauge of financial instability fell forty three percent. Among all households, frequent anxiety and depression fell by more than twenty percent. The largest declines in measures of hardship coincided with the $600 checks that reached most people in January and the $1,400 checks mostly distributed in April.

According to the Times, the aggressive use of stimulus checks coincides with growing interest in broad cash payments as a tool in social policy. The evidence that they can have an immediate effect on the economic strains afflicting many households could influence that debate. Starting in July, the government will mail up to $300 a month per child to most families in a yearlong expansion of the child tax credit that Democrats want to make permanent. But this research raises another question: Why not two grand for everyone, every month?

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

CNN reports that the US military has apologized after soldiers accidentally stormed a factory in Bulgaria during a training exercise last month. The factory produces machinery for making olive oil. Luckily, no weapons were fired. Bulgarian President Rumen Radev condemned the incident and said he expects there will be an investigation. It’s like a Three Stooges routine about US imperialism.

According to the Guardian, the climate crisis is causing a widespread fall in oxygen levels in lakes across the world, suffocating wildlife and threatening drinking water supplies. A study, published in the journal Nature, analysed data collected from nearly four hundred lakes worldwide. Humanity is really doing a number on marine life, maybe we should ease up.

The Associated Press reports that the NFL yesterday pledged to halt the use of race- norming – which assumed Black players started out with lower cognitive function – in the $1 billion settlement of brain injury claims. The league will also review past scores for any potential race bias. More than two thousand NFL retirees have filed dementia claims, but fewer than six hundred have received awards. And this racist policy was one reason why.

The Washington Post reports that Donald Trump’s blog, celebrated by advisers as a beacon of freedom that would keep him relevant, is dead. It was twenty nine days old. Upset by reports highlighting its measly readership, Trump ordered his team Tuesday to put the blog out of its misery. My kingdom for a verified Twitter account!

AM QUICKIE - JUNE 3, 2021

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

Last time it was an oil pipeline, this time it’s meat processors. Another cyberattack has thrown global commerce into chaos.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump is getting ready to make his return to the rally circuit, on behalf of loyal Republican candidates in several states. We knew this day would come, but for decency’s sake, we wish it could’ve waited a while longer.

And lastly, President Joe Biden is on the diplomatic circuit trying to persuade other countries to raise taxes on multinational corporations. The basic idea is, if everyone does it at once, there will be nowhere for the tax dodgers to hide.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Hold the beef. No, really. The beef is on hold until further notice. Bloomberg News reports that a cyberattack on JBS, the largest meat producer globally, has forced the shutdown of some of world’s largest slaughterhouses. There are signs that the closures are spreading. JBS’s five biggest beef plants in the US – which handle twenty three thousand cattle a day – have halted processing following a weekend attack on the company’s networks. Those outages alone have wiped out nearly a fifth of America’s production. Slaughter operations across Australia were also down. One of Canada’s largest beef plants was idled. But it’s unclear exactly how many plants globally have been affected by the attack. The prospect of more extensive shutdowns is already upending agricultural markets and raising concerns about food security as hackers increasingly target critical infrastructure.

Bloomberg says the White House has offered assistance to JBS. The company notified the Biden administration on Sunday of a cyberattack from a criminal organization likely based in Russia. Biden has directed the administration to mitigate the impact on the meat supply. Any substantial disruption in meat processing would further stoke mounting political concerns about the concentration of the meat industry. Four giant companies control more than eighty percent of US beef processing. Rural lawmakers recently pressed the Justice Department for action on an anti-trust investigation of the beef industry launched last year. There’s nothing like a massive ransomware attack to bring home the dangers of unchecked corporate consolidation! At least some cows are happy.

Trump To Hold Rallies Again

Did you miss him? Neither did we. NBC News reports that Donald Trump returns to the electoral battlefield Saturday as the marquee speaker at the North Carolina Republican Party’s state convention. He plans to follow up with several more rallies in June and July to keep his base engaged in the 2022 midterms and give him the option of seeking the presidency again in 2024. While his schedule isn't set, his coming stops are likely to include efforts to help Ohio congressional candidate Max Miller, a former White House aide looking to win a primary against Representative Anthony Gonzales, who voted to impeach Trump; Jody Hice, who is trying to unseat fellow Republican Brad Raffensperger as Georgia secretary of state, after Raffensperger defied Trump; and Alabama Senate candidate Mo Brooks.

Democrats are also looking ahead to the midterms. Politico reports that with their fragile House majority on the line, many Democrats are imploring their colleagues not to take the bait after last November’s referendum on Trump ended up costing their party a dozen seats. Instead, those Democrats are eager to deploy a policy-heavy playbook to help stave off a potential midterm whipping. Some in the party are contending that their midterm strategy should resemble that of 2018 – when their party netted forty seats to wrest back the majority. That year, Democratic candidates pummeled their GOP opponents on health care, rather than Trump, and it worked. Besides, Donald Trump won’t be the ballot – and Joe Biden’s honeymoon will be long over.

Biden Pitches Global Tax Hike

This look at a possible global corporate tax crackdown comes from the Washington Post. Finance ministers from Group of Seven nations meeting in London on Friday are expected to back President Biden’s call for a global minimum tax on corporate profits. The new minimum tax is designed to halt a cycle of corporate tax-cutting that has sapped government revenue around the globe. Biden catalyzed the debate in late May by proposing a worldwide minimum tax of at least fifteen percent, which was lower than many tax specialists had expected. If he can secure agreement from the world’s leading democracies, it could produce the most significant global tax shift in decades. Putting a floor beneath multinationals’ tax bills in other countries would help the president raise the corporate rate at home to twenty eight percent.

The Post says that along with opposition from corporate lobbyists, additional obstacles loom, including objections from low-tax countries such as Ireland, as well as likely noncompliance from China and Russia. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said the goal is to make sure multinationals are paying their fair share. The president also aims to shrink the role that tax calculations play in corporate investment decisions. Even without action by other nations, the Biden administration expects to reap more than $533 billion over the next decade by reducing incentives for US corporations to shift assets abroad. Corporate taxes could always be higher, but it took generations for them to get so low. This is welcome news.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

The New York Times reports that the the Biden administration yesterday suspended oil drilling leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that were issued in the waning days of the Trump administration. Arctic tribal leaders who have protested oil drilling praised the move. Let’s hope the new rule sticks around longer than the next presidential election.

Politico reports that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis yesterday signed into law a policy banning transgender athletes from playing girls and women’s sports. Democrats disavow the policy, claiming it’s unwarranted, fuels transphobia and discriminates against transgender students. Of course, for Republicans like DeSantis, those are the selling points.

According to the Jerusalem Post, the state of Arizona is preparing to execute inmates on death row using Zyklon B, the same gas used by the Nazis in death camp gas chambers. The Arizona corrections department has spent more than $2,000 on the ingredients required to make the deadly gas. The Republican-controlled state has not carried out any executions since 2014, but they are now working towards reinstating capital punishment. Yikes.

CNN reports that Nike and other major sponsors have come out in support of tennis star Naomi Osaka following her decision to withdraw from the French Open. Announcing her decision to withdraw, she revealed that she has suffered long bouts of depression since winning her first Grand Slam title in 2018. It’s quite a moment of visibility and acceptance for everyone suffering from mental illness. Which, in pandemic times, is pretty much everyone.

AM QUICKIE - JUNE 2, 2021

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

Texas Democrats staged a late-night walkout in the state’s capitol to briefly block the local GOP’s sweeping voter suppression bill, but the fight is far from over.

Meanwhile, the New York Times obtained documents showing how Joe Biden is attempting to overhaul the country’s immigration system.

And lastly, Colombia’s government ramps up its attacks on protesters and deploys thousands of troops to combat a social movement against police brutality and income inequality, while the U.N. calls for an end to the violence.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

The battle for voting rights in America is boiling over in Texas. The GOP there has passed one of the most restrictive voting bills we’ve seen this far, and the state’s minority Democratic caucus is doing everything in their power to stop it actually becoming a law.

Texas’s embattled Democrats did everything they could to slow down the bill in the State Senate, where it was eventually passed on Sunday.

It then went to the House, with a looming legislative deadline attached. At around 10:35 on Sunday evening, the leader of the State House Democratic Caucus told all his members to just pick up and leave the building. This move deprived the Republicans of the minimum number of members needed to start a vote and forced the House Speaker to adjourn the session around 11 p.m.

Even though the GOP would have won that vote on party lines, the Democrats realized they could run out the clock by simply refusing to play, and therefore throw a big wrench in the Republican’s voter suppression plans.

Now, Governor Gregg Abbott says he’ll call a special legislative session, which will give the GOP another chance to pass a similar bill. They’ll have to start over, but could just cannibalize the old bill or even make it worse.

But still, the Texas Democrats fight this weekend is an example of how difficult the Democrats should be making this kind of thing across the country. There are similar voter suppression bills being voted on or already passed in over half a dozen other states around the country already, and it’s going to take a lot more political hardball to shut them down, especially as federal efforts to ensure the right to vote are moving at a glacial pace.

Biden Immigration Plans Leak

The New York Times has obtained 46-page draft of President Biden’s prospective plan to reform the United States’ immigration system.

According to the Times’ the Clif notes version of this plan is pretty promising. Biden wants to make everything simpler, with shorter forms, fewer security hoops, and more chances for families to join one another and secure work visas.

He wants to clear the Trump-era backlog of immigration applications and generally expand the legal immigration process in all the ways that Trump crushed it, particularly by letting in more asylum seekers and granting more work visas.

The Times reports that most of Biden’s plans can be put in place without going through Congress, which means they’ll skip the chaotic gridlock that dominates our national legislature at the moment. The White House didn’t comment on the Times story, but hopefully they’ll have some public plans out soon.

All of this is good, and should be expected after the utter barbarism of the Trump administration. But we’ve got to take it with a grain of salt: this is still just reform of a system that has failed so many needy people.

The Times story at least doesn’t mention some of the more progressive immigration policies advocates have been pushing for for years, like pathways to citizenship for currently undocumented people. For that, Biden will likely have to navigate the gauntlet on Capitol Hill.

Colombia Protests Get Bloodier

Protests in the Colombian city of Cali, and across the country, have intensified in recent days, after President Ivan Duque ordered 7,000 troops to the city.

The resulting violence has killed 14 protesters since May 28, and injured 98, the majority of which were shot by the government’s guns, according to the U.N.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights voiced “deep concern” over the situation and called for an end to the violence, which is about par for the course when a country starts shooting its own citizens in the street.

The current protest movement in Colombia has been running for most of May, after tensions over pandemic-era tax reforms spiraled into mounting protests against police brutality. The New York Times reports that Colombia’s police forces have been heavily militarized for decades due to their clashes with guerilla groups and drug cartels, but when domestic protests broke out, those guns were turned on ordinary people.

At least 42 people have died since the protests began, including the 14 that were killed just this weekend. The country’s leadership under Duque, meanwhile, has denied that police brutality is a widespread problem. The death tolls and grieving families there make that kind of talk pretty hard to swallow.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

Israel’s always confusing, often corrupt government appears to be headed toward a parliamentary compromise that would oust Benjamin Netanyahu from power. There only problem is his likely successor would be either an ultra-nationalist who has boasted of killing Arabs or a centrist former TV host. Not the greatest options there.

China announced on Sunday that it would allow its citizens to have up to three children, further relaxing the country’s long standing restrictive child policies amid nationwide worries of population decline. But the New York Times reports that experts say the new policies don’t do enough to actually help people raise families, noting the lack of child care and workplace protections for mothers.

The Washington Post reports that finance ministers from each of the G-7 countries are expected to back Biden’s push for a global minimum tax on corporate products during a meeting in London on Friday. This will be one to watch over the next few weeks, as Biden’s facing an uphill fight to get corporations to pay even a shred of what they owe to the people who create their riches.

And finally, the Biden administration announced on Monday that Biden’s new direct cash payments for childcare benefits will start hitting parents’ bank accounts as early as July 15, giving a much-needed boost for many families as we emerge from the pandemic.

AM QUICKIE - June 1, 2021

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Jack Crosbie

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

The Biden administration will today unveil its biggest and sure to be most controversial proposal yet – for a $6 trillion federal budget. And from child care to electric vehicles, there’s a lot in there for Republicans to cry over.

Meanwhile, the United Nations is launching an unprecedented, open-ended inquiry into the root causes of the latest violence in Gaza. War crimes may be found on both sides, but Israel has made clear it does not welcome the scrutiny.

And lastly, hard-working college athletes could finally get what’s due to them. Senators Bernie Sanders and Chris Murphy want to give them the right to form unions and bargain collectively with colleges.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Why can’t we have nice things? Politico reports that President Joe Biden continues to negotiate with Republicans on his big-ticket spending plans. But yesterday, when he left Washington for Ohio, he mocked them for voting against the coronavirus recovery package and then turning around and promoting the bill. In a speech at Cuyahoga Community College, Biden said his trillions of dollars in proposals are already igniting economic recovery and creating millions of jobs following the coronavirus pandemic. Back in Washington, Senate Republicans sent Biden their latest proposal, but the $928 billion infrastructure plan is still hundreds of billions less than the White House’s last offer of $1.7 trillion.

And there’s an even bigger budget fight brewing. The New York Times reports Biden will propose a $6 trillion budget today that would take the United States to its highest levels of federal spending since World War Two. Biden is looking to fund a sweeping economic agenda that includes new investments in education, transportation and fighting climate change. The budget request includes money for roads, water pipes, broadband internet, electric vehicle charging stations and advanced manufacturing research. It also envisions funding for affordable child care, universal prekindergarten and a national paid leave program. Spending on national defense would also grow, though it would decline as a share of the economy.

Biden plans to fund his agenda by raising taxes on corporations and high earners. The documents show budget deficits shrinking in the 2030s. So maybe we can have nice things after all.

UN Opens Gaza Inquiry

his diplomatic dispatch comes from the Guardian. The UN’s main human rights body will launch an investigation into systematic discrimination and repression in Israel and Palestine, with the aim of identifying the root causes of recent Gaza bloodshed. The proposal, called at the request of Muslim states, was passed by the forty seven-member United Nations human rights council yesterday. Opening the session in Geneva, the UN rights chief, Michelle Bachelet (Ba-chuh-let), said Israel’s attacks on Gaza this month could constitute war crimes if they were found to be disproportionate. She also accused Hamas of firing indiscriminate rockets on Israel. Bachelet, a former president of Chile, called the death and injury of children in the conflict "a source of shame for all."

According to the Guardian, Bachelet said the Gaza violence was directly linked to protests in Jerusalem that began weeks beforehand, which she said were met with a heavy response from Israeli security forces. She said two factors led to the escalation – the imminent eviction of Palestinians under forced displacement in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah; and Israel’s use of excessive force against Palestinian protesters, including at the al-Aqsa mosque. Yesterday’s resolution received twenty four votes in favour, nine against and fourteen abstentions. The US didn’t vote because it is not a member of the council. Israel and its allies, including the US, have accused the UN of anti-Israel bias. Criticize away, but is anyone better suited than UN investigators to establish the facts of the situation?

Sanders Rallies For College Athletes

College sports break! The Washington Post reports that a new bill from Congressional Democrats would allow college athletes to unionize, making it possible for students from across universities to band together to form unions within athletic conferences. The bill from Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Chris Murphy of Connecticut would rewrite federal labor law to define all college athletes receiving scholarships and other pay as employees of both public and private universities. It would be a significant reimagining of the college sports landscape. And it would open a door to athletes receiving additional compensation from colleges by bargaining over wages, working conditions, revenue sharing agreements, and other rights afforded to employees.

The Post says the bill, called the College Athlete Right to Organize Act, is unlikely to pass in the current Congress. A companion bill introduced by three House Democrats has also not found any Republican co-sponsors. But it has created substantial momentum in Congress to pass legislation that would set a single standard for how athletes can earn income, rather than a patchwork of conflicting state laws. In a statement yesterday, Sanders linked the right of athletes to form a union to the fight to earn money through their personal brands. He said, "College athletes are workers. ... We cannot wait for the NCAA to share its billions with the workers who create it.". The NCAA put out a statement condemning the bill. But of course they did – they don’t want to share the wealth!

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

The Associated Press reports that Senate Republicans are poised to deploy the filibuster to block a commission on the January 6th insurrection. The GOP maneuver may shatter chances for a bipartisan probe of the deadly assault on the US Capitol and revive pressure to do away with the procedural tactic. Indeed, why give the Republicans a veto?

According to the Washington Post, Amazon and other retailers are opposing a bipartisan measure in Congress that would require online sellers to clearly state where their products are made. Current laws don’t force online retailers to include this information. Sounds like a fine loophole if you sell tons of cheap junk made god-knows-where!

The Seattle Times reports that three Tacoma, Washington police officers will face criminal charges in the March 2020 killing of Manuel Ellis, a thirty three-year-old Black man whose death sparked widespread calls for justice. State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said yesterday he will charge officers Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins with second- degree murder, and Timothy Rankine with first-degree manslaughter. More consequences for violent cops – let’s get it trending!

The New York Times reports that the New York City Council voted overwhelmingly yesterday to expand a subsidy program that could make apartments affordable to tens of thousands of people who are homeless or threatened with eviction. The council voted to sharply increase the value of housing vouchers provided by the city. The value of the new vouchers would be in line with fair market rent. So they’re actually useful? Imagine that.

MAY 28, 2021 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

One of the sketchiest libertarian venture capitalists in America planned to launch an app to summon a private police force by smartphone. Today we are pleased to report that, thanks to negative publicity, the rent-a-cop app is being scrapped.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has given US intelligence agencies ninety days to figure out where the coronavirus came from. And he says they’ll be entertaining a theory favored by many Republicans, that the virus somehow escaped from a lab in China.

And lastly, activist shareholders, with the support of public pension funds, won a vote forcing Exxon Mobil to hire directors who favor clean energy. It’s a massive defeat for Exxon management and a repudiation of the company’s old, planet-destroying ways.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

This dispatch from the dystopia comes from CBS News. The crowdsourcing crime- tracking app Citizen, whose earliest backers include the venture capitalist billionaire Peter Thiel, is ditching plans to develop a private police force that could be summoned by users via the smartphone app. The company began offering the service in Los Angeles last month as a pilot program. For the service, Citizen partnered with a private firm called Los Angeles Professional Security, which describes itself as a provider of subscription law enforcement. But on Tuesday, Citizen ended the program, stating it has no plans to launch a similar service elsewhere. The company's decision follows more than a week of negative publicity for the popular app, which uses cellphone-location data to alert users of potential safety hazards, emergencies and criminal activity in their area.

CBS reports that as Citizen's popularity has grown, so, too, has its number of critics, who say the app raises privacy issues as well as racial bias. Matthew Guariglia, a policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, called the app "a digital superhighway for racial profiling," In mid-May, the app misidentified a homeless person as the source of a recent wildfire in Los Angeles. Citizen posted pictures of the man, and offered a $30,000 reward to anyone who could provide information leading to his arrest. A few days later, a different man was arrested for the crime. If you think the regular police are bad, wait until you see what Silicon Valley comes up with.

Biden Orders Review Of Virus Origins

This update on the politics of the pandemic comes from the Washington Post. President Biden said yesterday that he has asked the intelligence community to determine the origin of the coronavirus pandemic. It’s a major departure from the previous White House position that the World Health Organization should lead efforts to uncover the contagion’s origin. Biden has asked for a report within ninety days. The new message from the White House reflects the rapidly changing views about the origins of the virus. In recent weeks, a theory has gained more support that the source of the coronavirus may have emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, though that is far from proved. Some Republicans pushed the idea early on, including Donald Trump. But the idea was dismissed by many influential scientists and Democrats.

The Post says that in recent weeks, some prominent researchers have begun arguing that the lab theory should remain on the table until more is known. And a series of reports in the Wall Street Journal, including one that highlighted how several people who work at the Wuhan lab became sick in fall 2019 with Covid-like symptoms, has been part of a reexamination. Biden said one element of the US intelligence community leans toward the view that the novel coronavirus came from a laboratory accident. Two other components, on the other hand, believe the virus came from animal-to-human contact. But are American spies really well- suited to make this determination, especially without Chinese cooperation?

Exxon Shareholders Revolt Over Clean Energy

You love to see it. The New York Times says Big Oil was knocked down a peg yesterday. Shareholders of Exxon Mobil dealt the company’s management a stunning defeat by electing at least two board candidates who pledged to steer the company away from oil and gas and toward cleaner energy. The success of the campaign, led by a tiny hedge fund against the nation’s largest oil company, could force the energy industry to confront climate change. Analysts could not recall another time that Exxon management had lost a vote against company-picked directors. The vote reveals the growing power that giant Wall Street firms now have to press corporate managements to pursue social goals.

According to the Times, the hedge fund leading this campaign, Engine Number One, was seeking to defeat four of the company’s twelve director candidates. Its victory is the culmination of years of efforts by activists to force the oil giant to change its environmental policies. Some big pension funds, including the New York State Common Retirement Fund and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, had joined the effort. In another sign of change, shareholders of Chevron, the second largest US oil company, yesterday voted for a proposal to reduce emissions from the fuel the company makes and sells. And in the Netherlands, a court required Royal Dutch Shell to reduce its emissions by forty five percent by 2030.

One day these companies will be only a memory, and the world will be better for it.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

The Los Angeles Times reports that nine people were killed, including the gunman, in a shooting yesterday morning at a San Jose rail yard. The suspect set his own house on fire, then drove to a Valley Transportation Authority union meeting and began shooting, law enforcement sources said. Sympathy and solidarity to all affected.

The Washington Post reports that Amazon will buy MGM Holdings from its investment- group owners, paying $8.45 billion billion to put the historic studio in the hands of the retailing giant. The Post is also owned by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, but we aren’t, so we can say he has enough money, power and cultural influence, already.

According to the Associated Press, President Biden is nominating former senior State Department official Nicholas Burns to serve as his ambassador to China, and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to be his ambassador to India. Prominent Democratic fundraisers Denise Bauer, Jane Hartley and David Cohen have also emerged as leading contenders for postings in France, Italy and Canada, respectively. Gotta love those patronage jobs!

Good news! The New York Times reports that immunity to the coronavirus lasts at least a year, possibly a lifetime, improving over time – especially after vaccination. That’s according to two new studies, both in the journal Nature. The results suggest that people who have recovered from Covid-19 and later been vaccinated will continue to have high levels of protection against emerging variants, even without a vaccine booster. So there’s a silver lining for survivors.

AM QUICKIE - MAY 27, 2021

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn