#Biden's administration

[intersectionalpraxis]

[original post that sof's library (@/folkoftheshelf) is reacting to: Globe Eye News reports: "White House says no "genocide" happening in Gaza." May 13, 2024]

[nando161mando]

[motherofplatypus]

To my fellow US protestors who fights against apartheid and genocide. Here's his account.

Extra tips from other rebloggers down below, I add it here so its easier for others to see. If anyone reblogged with more tips, I'll add yours as well. May this be helpful:

@lercymoth:

"Be advised, police have the tools to detect who's phones are at a protest. If you can, bring a recording device other than your phone."

@stuntwocket:

"Phones can be encrypted to prevent state actors from accessing footage, cameras cannot. There’s no correct answer, but both pieces of information are important when deciding what you’re going to bring."

@lotsa-cats-in-a-trenchcoat:

"Also a good idea to look into faraday bags. They make your phone undetectable. Better keep your phone on you just in one of those in case you need to contact someone urgently."

@silvergryphonart:

"This is your excuse to buy a recording spy pen. You know you want to. They’re not even expensive. They’re not even rare." (The user shared this info for the greater good, don't you dare using it for nasty stuff)

@doug-dimmadumb:

-Airplane mode or bring a burner phone. Keep lots of encryption apps and VPNs on your phone if you can, and make sure you know how your connection works well. Signal is necessary. Travel in groups.

-Follow the tactics of the Hong Kong protesters. These cops, overconfident from their massive budgets, are likely more susceptible. But do be careful not to put yourself or others in danger.

-Use whatever resources you can to protect yourself. Remember you are not alone. Remember there may be agitators.

-Zionists are evil and vile, but they just want a reaction from you. Try not to engage with them. They're just spewing shit. You're stronger, better than them. Let them spew their crap and focus on the challenges at hand.

-Dont. Give. Up.

[peligrosapop]

New York City, New York.

[reasonsforhope]

Sorry I'm kind of dissociated and my vocab crashes during that can you explain the Biden drug thing in just. Shorter simple sentences.

Sure! You're not the only one who's mentioned being unclear on what it means either, and I'm happy to help

(Context for anyone else: US Sets Policy to Seize Patents of Government-Funded Drugs if Price Deemed Too High, via Good News Network, December 11, 2023)

From the very basics:

When drug companies create new drugs, they get a legal protection called a "patent." The patent means no one else can make or sell the same drug for whatever number of years.

Usually, this is about 10 years after the drug starts being sold to the public.

So, for those years, that one drug company is the only source of whatever medication. And since people need their medication, drug companies can charge however much money they want.

Meaning a lot of drugs that people need to live cost way too much money to buy.

So, with this, Biden told drug companies "Fuck you, if you keep making medicine too $$$ for people to afford, I'm giving your competition the right to make and sell those drugs too."

The US has never done anything like this before.

This is a huge threat to the whole (awful) drug industry in the US. It will save people thousands of dollars. If he does this, it will save lives.

--

Edit 12/17/23: Quick note, as people have said in the notes, this only applies to drugs made in part using taxpayer money. Which is! Literally all of them!

[totallynotcensorship]

[aberration13]

Looks like the biden admin is showing the first signs of caving regarding its support for the israeli gvt and is attempting to distance him from it. This should not be allowed to happen. He has a hand in this genocide and stepping away is not enough.

The most recent statements have changed from overt support for israel to a concession that israel's civilian killings are too much, but he's now claiming to be unable to exert enough influence to stop them. This is not true. He is trying to continue allowing it while avoiding culpability when he should be opposing it directly.

Nicknames like genocide joe and genocidin biden seem to have his campaign afraid that he might not win a second term if he keeps aiding ethnic cleansing. Good. Until he halts all material aid he should still be treated as an ongoing genocide supporter. And even after that he will never be clean of the lives of the people he helped put to death.

[sayruq]

[captain-casual]

Next up: Biden continues to be a crusty piece of shit who ignores his voters

Story here

[intersectionalpraxis]

FU to all those attendees. Love and solidarity to the resistance -Free Palestine.

[nando161mando]

[motherofplatypus]

This is a post taken directly from the official account of WCK.

These are the heroes of WCK who were killed by IDF pigs. 1 from Palestine, 1 from Poland, 1 from Australia, 1 from USA, and 3 from UK.

6 of them aren't Palestinian.

None of them are combatant.

If you still think even for one second that those israeli pigs are the victim, that their actions are justified, or even give a single damn about humans' life you're lying to yourself or you're just as much of a pig as they are.

[directactionforhope]

By the way, even if you fully plan to vote for Biden in November (because Trump would be worse and has declared that if elected he would ban Palestinians from entering the US x, x, x, x)...

You can and I would argue should call or email Biden or whatever other Democrats represent you and just straight up lie about it. Tell them "I'm a constituent, and I've voted for you in x number of elections, and thanks to your support for the genocide of the Palestinian people, I will never, ever vote for you again."

Politicians, Democrats, and especially Biden need a fire lit under their asses, because the vast majority of them clearly aren't going to do shit without one. Or, worse, be like Biden and actively be the reason that Israel can continue its genocide on a political, monetary, and military level.

Tell Biden and other politicians that you will never vote for them again. It doesn't matter if it's true. It will help pressure US politicians to stop this genocide, and therefore it's the right thing to do.

Obviously this also applies to other countries where politicians are supporting Israel's genocide, especially countries that have cut funding to UNRWA (list here).

[reasonsforhope]

"The Biden Administration last week [early December, 2023] announced it would be seizing patents for drugs and drug manufacturing procedures developed using government money.

A draft of the new law, seen by Reuters, said that the government will consider various factors including whether a medical situation is leading to increased prices of the drug at any given time, or whether only a small section of Americans can afford it.

The new executive order is the first exercise in what is called “march-in-rights” which allows relevant government agencies to redistribute patents if they were generated under government funding. The NIH has long maintained march-in-rights, but previous directors have been unwilling to use them, fearing consequences.

“We’ll make it clear that when drug companies won’t sell taxpayer funded drugs at reasonable prices, we will be prepared to allow other companies to provide those drugs for less,” White House adviser Lael Brainard said on a press call.

But just how much taxpayer money is going toward funding drugs? A research paper from the Insitute for New Economic Thought showed that “NIH funding contributed to research associated with every new drug approved from 2010-2019, totaling $230 billion.”

The authors of the paper continue, writing “NIH funding also produced 22 thousand patents, which provided marketing exclusivity for 27 (8.6%) of the drugs approved [between] 2010-2019.”

How we do drug discovery and production in America has a number of fundamental flaws that have created problems in the health service industry.

It costs billions of dollars and sometimes as many as 5 to 10 years to bring a drug to market in the US, which means that only companies with massive financial muscle can do so with any regularity, and that smaller, more innovative companies can’t compete with these pharma giants.

This also means that if a company can’t recoup that loss, a single failed drug can result in massive disruptions to business. To protect themselves, pharmaceutical companies establish piles of patents on drugs and drug manufacturing procedures. Especially if the drug in question treats a rare or obscure disease, these patents essentially ensure the company has monoselective pricing regimes.

However, if a company can convince the NIH that a particular drug should be considered a public health priority, they can be almost entirely funded by the government, as the research paper showed.

Some market participants, in this case the famous billionaire investor Mark Cuban, have attempted to remedy the issue of drug costs in America by manufacturing generic versions of patented drugs sold for common diseases."

-via Good News Network, December 11, 2023

[timesofocean]

Donald Trump Arraignment Judge Under Scrutiny

New Post has been published on https://www.timesofocean.com/donald-trump-arraignment-judge-under-scrutiny/

Donald Trump Arraignment Judge Under Scrutiny

New York (The Times Groupe) – Former U.S. Donald Trump’s hush money case in New York is being scrutinized by Judge Juan Merchan over a $35 payment he made to Biden’s administration. BIDEN

The information had raised questions about Merchan’s impartiality as he has come under attack by the former president as a “Trump-hating judge.”

According to reports, the New York Judge donated $15 to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign as part of his donations to Democrats in 2020.

Elie Honig, a CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor, explained the significance of the revelation.

“While the amounts here are minimal, it’s surprising that a sitting judge would make political donations of any size to a partisan candidate or cause,” Honig said.

In July 2020, Merchan donated three times through ActBlue, an internet fundraising tool for Democrat candidates and causes.

The judge had been made $15 to the Biden campaign and two other $10 donations, one to the Progressive Turnout Project, a group that encourages voter turnout, and the other to Stop Republicans, a group that is affiliated with the Progressive Turnout Project.

According to Stephen Gillers, a professor of legal ethics at New York University, New York has adopted language from the American Bar Association Model Code of Judicial Conduct that forbids judges from “soliciting funds for, paying an assessment to, or making a contribution to a political organization or candidate.”

“The contribution to Biden and possibly the one to ‘Stop Republicans’ would be forbidden unless there is some other explanation that would allow them,” Gillers said.

According to the professor, given the minimal sums, the donations “would be viewed as trivial.” He claimed that the state’s Commission on Judicial Conduct would remind the judge of the guidelines in the event of a complaint.

As a result, allies of the former president are urging the judge to recuse himself from the case as a result of the contributions.