Listen to this week’s episode of COVID, Race, & Democracy from Pacifica Radio:
The Florida Board of Medicine, whose members include donors to Governor Ron DiSantis’ reelection campaign, has moved to stop gender-affirming care for minors. Basil Pursley of Pacifica Affiliate WSLR 96.5 in Sarasota Florida has a report.
For more on this story, we also hear from Tampa Bay community activist Harrison Lundy in conversation with Ali Abdel-Qader of WSLR’s The Ruthless Truth.
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In California, since October 31, 2022 130 long term caregiver staff have been on a statewide strike. They are members of SEIU 2015, a merged local and one of the largest in the United States, with 400, 000 members. Members of Pacific Northwest Staff Union Local 2015 talked with Pacifica’s Steve Zeltzer about the conditions for home care and nursing workers and the physical attack on their picket lines with automobiles by the SEIU 2015 management with support from the president April Everrett who is also secretary treasurer of the SEIU and controller of the California Democratic Party.
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On November 10th, at Raytheon Technologies in Arlington, VA, supporters of the Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal served “subpoenas” on Raytheon and three other United States weapons manufacturers charging them with War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity, Theft, and Bribery. We go to On The Ground: Voices of Resistance from the Nation’s Capital with Esther Iverem for more.
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In august of this year, the Centers for Disease Control updated their COVID guidelines to remove the distinction between vaccinated and unvaccinated people. Vaccine mandates, nevertheless, continue to be enforced for many workers. University of California-Irvine professor and physician Dr. Aaron Kheriaty was fired earlier this year after refusing to get the COVID vaccine since he’d already had COVID and developed natural immunity. Dr Kheriaty filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the university’s vaccine mandate on behalf of COVID-recovered individuals. He discussed this recently on the Jimmy Dore show.
And that concludes today’s edition of COVID, Race & Democracy. We thank all of Pacifica’s sister stations and affiliates who contribute to the production of this show. Today’s program was produced by the executive producers of CRD, Akua Holt, Polina Vasiliev, and Steve Zeltzer.
Thanks for listening!
Music:
Michael Jackson, “They Don’t Care about Us”
Bill Withers “Lean on Me”Sweet Honey in the Rock, More than a Paycheck
