September Newsletter: Three lethal C’s of hunger. OXFAM.

 

SEPTEMBER 2021 NEWSLETTER

Update: Conflict, climate, and COVID-19 deepen the global hunger crisis           Donate now            David – As the pandemic continues around the world, a new reality is clear: hunger is taking more lives than COVID-19. People in hunger hotspots around the world are experiencing the direct impacts of the three lethal “Cs:” conflict, COVID-related inequality, and climate change. Since the start of the pandemic, Oxfam has worked with local partners to provide cash transfers for people in hunger hotspots, like in countries across West Africa who couldn’t afford food, daily meals for Venezuelans through the community canteen project, and provided seeds and tools to farmers in Syria. But we know that in order to tackle the three C's of hunger, we must address the long-term, systemic inequality that is both fueling and worsening this crisis. That's why Oxfam is demanding that billionaires pay their fair share, urging wealthy polluting nations to curb their emissions, and so much more. In a world in which so many have so much, nobody should have to experience starvation. Thanks to supporters like you, we've been able to help. But there's still so much to do. Vulnerable families around the world are counting on us – are you able to help them today?           Donate now

Make calls for once-in-a-generation legislation In response to the pandemic, the American Rescue Plan expanded the safety net to millions of Americans. The latest evidence suggests it had a major hand in bringing poverty in the US to a historic low. If the latest COVID-19 relief package passes, it has the power to change the lives of millions of Americans, including 8.27 million young children a year. Congress is still determining the line items for the bill, and we need every single member of Congress to know their constituents care about what makes it into this bill: investing in green initiatives, treating childcare as essential, strengthening workers’ rights, and more. Do your part: call your senators to ask them to vote YES on an inclusive Budget Reconciliation Package. Make calls Seeking asylum is a human right You may have seen the horrifying images of Haitian asylum seekers being chased and assaulted by Border Patrol agents at the United States’ southern border. We are currently suing the Biden administration over Title 42, a little-known policy being used to expel people who are legally seeking asylum. Learn more about Title 42 — and then help put a stop to this deplorable immigration policy by signing our petition to end Title 42. Sign petition

Oxfam's Best and Worst States to Work in America 2021 This year's report outlines how states rank based on how they are supporting working families, and features a new index focused on the policies that impact working women. COVID-19 has revealed just how deep inequality runs. The top four best states to work have some important things in common—robust minimum wages, substantial worker protections, and support for workers organizing. Check how your state ranks Voices of Change, the new podcast from Oxfam America! We are so excited to launch this new project with you. Our first season will focus on stories of Black women in the US Deep South. Most of the women we'll be speaking with are Oxfam partners—you might recognize some of them!—but we'll also go outside our immediate Oxfam network to bring some new voices into the conversation. Check out our first episode "The Long Haul" to hear about how Willie Jones is connecting women with "nontraditional" jobs, like truck driving and IT. Listen now Tax the rich As we watch the evolution of the budget reconciliation process, it's important to keep this reality top of mind: corporate profits are way up, and billionaires are amassing more wealth every day. This blog post unpacks how billionaires and corporations are skirting taxes and what we can achieve if the ultra-wealthy are made to pay their fair share. It's long past time: we need to tax the rich and big corporations. Read more Hurricane Ida and the climate crisis Just before Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana this August, it underwent a process called “rapid intensification” and exploded into a monster Category 4 storm — thanks to favorable atmospheric conditions and warm ocean waters. It left the state battered, maintaining its hurricane status for 16 hours before weakening. The storm then moved up the coast to bring further devastation to New Jersey and New York City. Ida revealed just how vulnerable our infrastructure is to climate-related extreme weather events. Read more

You have the power to change lives. Donate monthly

Oxfam is a global organization working to end the injustice of poverty. UNSUBSCRIBE | TAKE ACTION | CONTACT US

Biden's vaccine mandate for workers is supported by legal precedents, experts say. Twitter.

 

Biden's vaccine mandate for workers is supported by legal precedents, experts say

On September 9, US President Joe Biden announced a plan to require all private businesses with 100 or more employees to ensure that their workers are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, or get tested weekly. The mandate will be implemented through an Emergency Temporary Standard to be issued by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Experts predict legal challenges to be launched, but they say OSHA has the authority to protect workers' safety by requiring vaccinations, Bloomberg reports. The 1905 Supreme Court decision in Jacobson v. Massachusetts has also been widely cited, in which the court upheld the Cambridge, Massachusetts Board of Health’s authority to require vaccination against smallpox during an epidemic.

Photo via @ReutersPolitics

HOUSE JAN. 6 PANEL SUBPOENAS TRUMP ADVISERS, ASSOCIATES. AP NEWS AND AOL.

MARY CLARE JALONICK AND ERIC TUCKER

September 23, 2021.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol has subpoenaed four advisers and associates to former President Donald Trump who were in contact with him before and during the attack. 

The panel subpoenaed former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Dan Scavino, former Defense Department official Kashyap Patel and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon. 

Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., wrote to the four men that the committee is investigating “the facts, circumstances, and causes” of the attack and asked them to produce documents and appear at depositions in mid-October. 

The subpoenas are a significant escalation for the panel, which is now launching the interview phase of the investigation after sorting through thousands of pages of documents the committee requested from federal agencies and social media companies. The goal is to provide a complete accounting of what went wrong when the Trump loyalists quickly overwhelmed police and interrupted the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory — and to prevent anything like it from ever happening again. 

Thompson says in letters to each of the witnesses that investigators believe they have relevant information about the lead-up to the insurrection. In the case of Bannon, for instance, Democrats cite his Jan. 5 prediction that ”(a)ll hell is going to break loose tomorrow” and his communications with Trump one week before the riot in which he urged the president to focus his attention on Jan. 6.

The committee also cites Meadows' work to overturn Trump's defeat in the weeks prior to the insurrection and his pressure on state officials to push the former president's false claims of widespread voter fraud. 

In the letter to Meadows, Democrats say they have “credible evidence” of his involvement in events within the scope of the committee’s investigation. That includes his communication with Trump on Jan. 6 and his reported involvement in the “planning and preparation of efforts to contest the presidential election and delay the counting of electoral votes.” 

Thompson also signaled that the committee is interested in Meadows’ requests to Justice Department officials for investigations into potential election fraud. Former Attorney General William Barr has said the Justice Department did not find fraud that could have affected the election’s outcome.

The panel cites reports that Patel, a Trump loyalist who had recently been placed at the Pentagon, was talking to Meadows “nonstop” the day the attack unfolded. 

Scavino was with Trump on Jan. 5 during a discussion about how to persuade members of Congress not to certify the election for Joe Biden, according to reports cited by the committee. On Twitter, he promoted Trump's rally ahead of the attack and encouraged supporters to “be a part of history.” The panel said its records indicate that Scavino was “tweeting messages from the White House” on Jan. 6. 

JUST "ONE" EXAMPLE OF DONALD TRUMPS DETERMINATION TO STAY IN POWER, NO MATTER WHAT.

 

The following exchange occurred during a White House Press conference on Wednesday, Sept 24, 2020.

 “Win, lose, or draw in this election, will you commit here today for a peaceful transferal of power after the election?” reporter Brian Karem asked Donald Trump, who didn’t even attempt to give the impression he cares whatsoever about preserving democracy. “Well, we’re going to have to see what happens,” Trump said. “You know that. I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster.” Pressed again to “commit to making sure that there’s a peaceful transferal of power,” Trump responded, “Get rid of the ballots and...we’ll have a very peaceful—there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation. The ballots are out of control. You know it. You know who knows it better than anybody else? The Democrats know better than anybody else.”

''...Pressed again to “commit to making sure that there’s a peaceful transferal of power,” Trump responded, “Get rid of the ballots and...we’ll have a very peaceful—there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation."

IN OTHER WORDS, DO WHAT I TELL YOU AND WE WON'T NEED A TRANSFER OF POWER, JUST A PEACEFUL CONTINUATION.

THERE IS NO EVIDENCE, OR EVEN MINIMAL JUSTIFICATION FOR THE PHRASE:

"The ballots are out of control. You know it. You know who knows it better than anybody else? The Democrats know better than anybody else.” 

PERHAPS YOU REMEMBER THE FOLLOWING FROM AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED ON THIS WEBSITE:

"EMPTY" ASSERTION-  ANY STATEMENT, (WRITTEN OR ORAL), THAT CLAIMS TO BE FACTUAL, BUT HAS LITTLE SUPPORTING EVIDENCE OR DATA THAT CAN WITHSTAND PROPER SCRUTINY.  In many cases, the act of criticizing the Assertion is discouraged, AND IT MUST BE ACCEPTED WITHOUT QUALIFICATION.

DO YOU THINK THAT APPLIES HERE?