March 26, 2023

The Biden Administration Is Punting On A Way To Make Cancer Drugs Cheaper

President Joe Biden’s administration has decided not to pursue an untested legal strategy that could dramatically lower the cost of medication for prostate cancer patients, angering key lawmakers who fear the administration is punting on challenging the power of the pharmaceutical industry.

Patient advocates and progressives had hoped the administration would use its executive powers to enable production of generic versions of Xtandi, a prostate cancer drug developed with federal funding at UCLA. The drug’s manufacturer charges up to $190,000 a year for the drug in the United States while charging a fraction of that price in other developed countries.

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Specifically, they want the administration to use its authority under a 1980 law to “march in” and claim rights to drugs developed with federal research funding if drug companies do not make them “available to the public on reasonable terms.” In such cases, the government can license production to other firms or, in theory, produce the drug on its own.

The 1980 law is known as “Bayh-Dole” and is named for its co-sponsors, the late Sens. Birch Bayh (D-Ind.) and Bob Dole (R-Kan.). By using Bayh-Dole to force down the price of Xtandi, advocates have been hoping, the federal government would establish its ability to force down the price of other costly drugs ― or at least to threaten such action, prodding drugmakers to lower prices on their own.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/biden-nih-march-in-rights-xtandi-cancer-drug_n_641cfe28e4b01ea5cd937fa4

March 25, 2023

Latest RWNJ conspiract theory - Fetterman using a body double

https://twitter.com/ACTBrigitte/status/1639403658281377798

The photo of the supposedly "fake" Fetterman being taken last year raises questions about the timeline of the conspiracy. The conspiracy theorists do not appear to be claiming that anything is awry with photos of Fetterman taken before or after May 22, 2022.

For the theory to be true, the supposed "replacement" Fetterman would have briefly appeared in May of last year, only to be replaced by the actual Fetterman after the photo was taken. It is unclear what purpose that would serve.

https://www.newsweek.com/john-fetterman-hospital-photo-last-year-fuels-body-double-conspiracy-1790264

March 25, 2023

Trump posts article with photo of himself holding a baseball bat next to a photo of Bragg

https://twitter.com/patriottakes/status/1638951713552867333

March 25, 2023

Avenatti: Hidden evidence will benefit Trump in hush money trial

https://twitter.com/MichaelAvenatti/status/1636585933108826112

March 24, 2023

Trump warns of "death and destruction" from potential arrest

https://twitter.com/JonLemire/status/1639206935760355329

March 24, 2023

Antisemitic incidents in the US are at the highest level recorded since the 1970s

Antisemitic incidents in the US reached their highest level last year since the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a civil rights non-governmental organization, began recording them in 1979.

The incidents including assault, vandalism and harassment increased by more than a third in just one year and reached nearly 3,700 cases in 2022, a new ADL report published Thursday found.

And the upward trend is alarming.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/23/us/antisemitism-report-unprecedented-rise-dg/index.html

March 24, 2023

Ana Kasparian pushes back against Trans-friendly terminology

https://twitter.com/AnaKasparian/status/1638608868485005314

"I'm a woman. Please don't ever refer to me as a person with a uterus, birthing person, or person who menstruates. How do people not realize how degrading this is? You can support the transgender community without doing this shit."

March 24, 2023

House passes GOP education bill that aims to provide additional oversight for parents

Source: CNN

The House voted Friday to pass a controversial bill that aims to increase so-called parental rights in the classroom, as House Republicans spotlight an issue that has emerged as a key party priority.

The Senate is not expected to take up the bill and Democrats have criticized it an attempt to turn the classroom into a political battleground.

Among other things, H.R. 5, also known as the “Parents Bill of Rights Act,” would amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require schools to provide parents with a list of books and reading materials available in the school library as well as posting curriculum publicly.

It would also require elementary and middle schools that receive federal funding to obtain parental consent before “changing a minor child’s gender markers, pronouns, or preferred name on any school form; or allowing a child to change the child’s sex-based accommodations, including locker rooms or bathrooms.”

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/24/politics/house-vote-parents-bill-of-rights-act/index.html

March 24, 2023

U.S. launches airstrikes in Syria after suspected Iranian drone kills a U.S. worker

Source: NPR

The U.S. is retaliating after a drone strike killed a U.S. contractor, injured five American service members and wounded one other contractor in Syria, Defense Department said on Thursday.

Intelligence sources found the drone, which struck a Syrian coalition base near Hasakah, was of Iranian origin, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.

In response, the U.S. Central Command conducted "precision airstrikes" on targets it believed were connected with Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Pentagon said.

"As President Biden has made clear, we will take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing," Austin said. "No group will strike our troops with impunity."

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2023/03/24/1165775009/syria-drone-strike-iran