Newsletter 1.18.22

Hi all, hope you are well. Here is this fortnight's newsletter. We will be back next week with our new season and all new episodes! Thank you so much for you continued to support, it means the world to us. 

Thanks again,

Florence, Marco, Adam, Julianne, and Nima 

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The “Great Resignation” Is Hype. Workers Need More Benefits, Not Less. Max B. Sawicky, In These Times (January 14, 2022)

The narrative of a great resignation of employees who would rather live off of government benefits than work is false when looking at the country’s low unemployment numbers and other metrics. Those spending policies have shown to help relieve economic hardship and spending should not be paused out of fears of inflation or job loss.

Biden’s Shameful Silence on Saudi Arabia’s War in Yemen Trita Parsi, Annelle Sheline, The New Republic (January 13, 2022)

The Biden Administration had promised to end the country’s support for Saudi Arabia’s brutal war in Yemen, but the U.S. continues to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia and has said little to condemn Saudi attacks. 

Prosecutors Hit Anti-pipeline Protesters with Felony Charges to Send a Message, Defense Says Alleen Brown, Sam Richards, The Intercept (January 8, 2022)

Pipeline 3 protestors in Minnesota received harsh felony charges to scare off future protestors, the defense attorneys for the water protectors allege. The prosecutors also appeared to ask pipeline company Enbridge for money to reimburse the prosecutor’s office for long hours.

There Are So Many Reasons Not to Trust Banks on Climate Change Kate Aronoff, The New Republic (January 12, 2022)

19 Banks have joined the RMA Climate Risk Consortium with a goal of banks adopting climate risk management into their operations. However, banks continue to invest money into fossil fuel companies and to fund Republican politicians who play a role in blocking both climate action and financial regulation.

Swamped by Vacation Rentals, Small Towns in the West Are Fighting Back Erika Bolstad, In These Times (January 6, 2022)

With vacation rentals booming in the pandemic, rural communities in the west have seen their housing stock getting depleted for use as rentals. People in these communities are trying to limit the number of rental units allowed and increase taxes on them to pay for more housing.

“Encircling” China Is a Very Bad Idea Michael Klare, Jacobin (January 14, 2022)

The 2022 defense bill has the groundwork for a policy of surrounding China with U.S. bases to limit the country’s authority. Encircling China has been a strategy that developed under the Bush Administration that will not continue under Biden, and it is an echo of Cold War containment policies that only served to fuel tensions.

It’s Not ‘Encouraging’ That Mostly People With Disabilities Die Despite Covid Shots Janine Jackson, FAIR (January 15, 2022)

Rochelle Wallensky’s statement on Good Morning America that it was encouraging news that the overwhelming number of breakthrough COVID deaths came from already immunocompromised people set off a storm with disability activists. They say her comments enforced the narrative that the disabled have a lower quality of life and are more expendable.

Bronx Building Has a History of Fire Retardant Violations Akela Lacy, The Intercept (January 11, 2022)

The building in the Bronx where a fire claimed 17 lives had two fire retardant violations last year, with one marked unresolved. As the eviction moratorium expires in New York City, thousands may be looking for affordable housing owned by the firms that controlled the Bronx building and underinvested in it.