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News Reports
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Editor's Choice: Scroll below for our monthly blend of mainstream and alternative October 2021 news and viewsNote: Excerpts are from the authors' words except for subheads and occasional "Editor's notes" such as this.
Oct. 27
Top Headlines
Washington Post, Election ‘distracted’ Trump team from pandemic response, Birx tells Congress- Washington Post, Live Updates: New cases fall nearly 60% in U.S. since delta surge, CDC says
- Washington Post, Paid leave likely to fall out of spending deal as Biden closes in on compromise
- Washington Post, Top U.S. general calls China’s hypersonic weapon test very close to a ‘Sputnik moment’
- Washington Post, In bid to head off a GOP takeover at FCC, Biden nominates two, including first woman to lead agency
Trump Riot, Election Claims
- Proof, Investigative Commentary: The Secret Behind Trump’s January 2 Phone Call, Seth Abramson
- Washington Post, Jan. 6 committee expected to subpoena lawyer who advised Trump, Pence on how to overturn election
U.S. Building, Safety Net Battles
- Washington Post, Democrats race to reach deal on spending ahead of Biden’s trip
- New York Times, How Democrats Would Tax Billionaires to Pay for Their Agenda
- Washington Post, Opinion: Manchin warns that Biden’s agenda would create an ‘entitlement society.’ But his state leads the way, Karen Tumulty
- New York Times, Guest Essay: Build Less Better, David Dayen
- New York Times, Opinion: Tax the Rich, Help America’s Children, Paul Krugman
- New York Times, Biden and Democrats Race for Budget Deal This Week as Rifts Remain
- Washington Post, Democrats quietly scramble to address immigration
- Washington Post, Democrats’ billionaire tax would target 10 wealthiest Americans, but alternative plan is emerging
- Washington Post, Opinion: A revealing Joe Manchin quote helps explain why we’re in deep trouble, Greg Sargent
Virus Victims, Responses
- New York Times, Merck Will Share Formula for its Covid Pill With Poor Countries
- Washington Post, Covid cases and deaths grossly underestimated among meatpackers, House investigation finds
- New York Times, Live Updates: Judge rejects a police union’s bid to suspend a vaccine mandate for N.Y.C. employees
- Washington Post, Opinion: Stop the false narrative about young children and covid. They need vaccines, Leana S. Wen
- New York Times, F.D.A. Advisory Panel Recommends Pfizer Vaccine for 5- to 11-Year-Olds
Worldometer, World & U.S. Coronavirus Case Totals: U.S. Deaths: 759,932- Washington Post, 220.6 million U.S. vaccinated
Climate Change, Weather, Disasters
New York Times, At McKinsey, Widespread Furor Over Work With Planet’s Biggest Polluters- New York Times, The heads of Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron and BP will testify in Congress on Thursday on climate disinformation
- Washington Post, Atmospheric river unleashes record-setting rain, flooding in California
World Conflict, Human Rights
- Washington Post, Poland ordered to pay more than $1 million a day in fines amid E.U. dispute over its court system
- Washington Post, Biden heads abroad with most ambassadorial picks stranded in Senate, stunting diplomatic efforts
- Washington Post, Iran to return to nuclear negotiations, signaling possible revival of talks aiming to restore 2015 deal
- New York Times, Gangs Rule Much of Haiti. Here’s What That Means for Haitians
- New York Times, Opinion: Biden and Mother Nature Have Reshaped the Middle East, Thomas L. Friedman
- Washington Post, Sudan’s prime minister returns home after detention in military takeover
U.S. Elections, Governance, Media
- New York Times, An Oath Keeper Was at the Capitol Riot. On Tuesday, He’ll Be on a Ballot
- New York Times, Final New York Mayoral Debate Descends Into Exchange of Personal Insults
- New York Times, Mort Sahl, Whose Commentary Redefined Stand-Up, Dies at 94
Wayne Madsen Report, Investigative Commentary: DeSantis's big secret is emerging from the shadows, Wayne Madsen
U.S. Crime, Courts, Law, Race
- New York Times, A California Law School Reckons With the Shame of Native Massacres
- New York Times, Man Convicted in ’81 Brink’s Robbery Wins Release From New York Prison
- Washington Post, Men shot by Kyle Rittenhouse can be called ‘rioters’ and ‘looters’ but not ‘victims,’ judge rules, Timothy Bella
- Washington Post, How to choose an impartial jury when white supremacists are on trial
Top Stories
Washington Post, Election ‘distracted’ Trump team from pandemic response, Birx tells Congress, Dan Diamond, Oct. 27, 2021 (print ed.). Former White House coronavirus coordinator (shown above in a White House file photo) says more than 130,000 people in the U.S. died unnecessarily.The Trump administration was “distracted” by last year’s election and ignored recommendations to curb the pandemic, the White House’s former coronavirus response coordinator told congressional investigators this month.
U.S. coronavirus cases tracker and map
“I felt like the White House had gotten somewhat complacent through the campaign season,” said Deborah Birx, who former president Donald Trump chose in March 2020 to steer his government’s virus response, according to interview excerpts released by the House select subcommittee on the pandemic.Birx, who sat for interviews with the subcommittee on Oct. 12 and 13, also detailed advice that she said the White House ignored late last year, including more aggressively testing younger Americans, expanding access to virus treatments and better distributing vaccines in long-term care facilities.
More than 130,000 American lives could have been saved with swifter action and better coordinated public health messages after the virus’ first wave, Birx told lawmakers.
“I believe if we had fully implemented the mask mandates, the reduction in indoor dining, the getting friends and family to understand the risk of gathering in private homes, and we had increased testing, that we probably could have decreased fatalities into the 30-percent less, to 40-percent less range,” Birx said.
More than 735,000 Americans have died from coronavirus-related complications since the pandemic began, including more than 300,000 since President
Washington Post, Live Updates: New cases fall nearly 60% in U.S. since delta surge, CDC says, Andrew Jeong and Adela Suliman, Oct. 27, 2021. Some immunocompromised people can get a fourth coronavirus shot.New coronavirus infections in the United States have dropped nearly 60 percent since a September spike brought on by the more contagious delta variant, according to data compiled by The Washington Post.
The seven-day average of infections stood at about 69,000 this week, figures show, reflecting a 58 percent drop from the latest surge’s peak around Sept. 13, when the average for that week was 164,475.
The impact of vaccinations is clear in regions with the highest uptake. Puerto Rico recorded a seven-day average of 1,121 new cases on Aug. 23 as it wrestled with delta; that figure had declined to 105 as of Tuesday. About 73 percent of Puerto Ricans are immunized.
But a handful of states are still struggling to turn the tide, especially as colder weather brings more people indoors again. In Montana, 45 out of every 100,000 people are hospitalized due to covid-19 — the highest rate in the country. Just over half the state’s population is fully vaccinated — below the national rate of 57.5 percent. Colorado, Michigan, New Mexico, Utah and Vermont have not yet stemmed the initial increases in cases and deaths triggered by the delta variant surge.
Here’s what to know
- An independent panel of vaccine experts has said the Food and Drug Administration should grant emergency authorization to administer the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine to children 5 to 11 years old.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says some people with weakened immune systems who received either Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine could get a fourth shot.
- Deborah Birx, a former White House coronavirus response coordinator, told congressional investigators that the Trump administration was “distracted” by last year’s election and ignored recommendations to curb the pandemic.
- Miami private school scraps policy to send home vaccinated students after funding threatened
Washington Post, Democrats race to reach deal on spending ahead of Biden’s trip, Tony Romm, Oct. 27, 2021 (print ed.). Talks advanced between the party’s moderate and liberal factions, but they still appeared far apart on their plans to expand health-care coverage, invest in green energy, provide paid leave to all Americans and overhaul the tax code. Additional Medicare, Medicaid benefits may be whittled or cut as Democrats woo moderates. Manchin’s machinations reach a crescendo.Washington Post, Top U.S. general calls China’s hypersonic weapon test very close to a ‘Sputnik moment,’ Sara Sorcher, Oct. 27, 2021. Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said China’s test of a hypersonic weapons system is “very concerning” — and “very close” to a Sputnik moment as Beijing rapidly expands its military capabilities.
Milley, right, the United States’ top military officer, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television that aired Wednesday that “what we saw was a very significant event of a test of a hypersonic weapon system.”As The Washington Post has reported, national security officials were alarmed by the suspected test in August of a nuclear-capable hypersonic vehicle that partially orbited the globe before hurtling toward Earth. As China is in the midst of a rapid ...
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