Good morning,
EU Vaccine Blockade
The European Union is now saying it will block vaccines from leaving the 27 member block as it lagged behind many countries in signing contracts, and now lags behind in vaccinating its population. The announcement centred on Astra Zeneca which had promised some 300 million doses but because of other contracts, like the one with the UK, was going to deliver only 100 million. The UK has administered 46 shots per 100 people, while the EU has only given 14 per 100.
The EU is not calling it an export ban, because some members of the EU are uncomfortable with the idea. So it’s saying it will demand its fair share of vaccines especially when companies are exporting to countries that have had more vaccines delivered than the EU.
French President Emmanuel Macron backed the EU's export controls and said the summit marked "the end of naivety" from the bloc.
"I support the fact that we must block all exports for as long as some drug companies don't respect their commitments with Europeans," he said.
https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20210326-eu-leaders-warn-they-will-block-astrazeneca-exports-until-bloc-gets-fair-share
It’s not clear how deeply the EU it will use its border controls to claw back vaccines and that will only become clearer in the coming days but it will impact the UK vaccines rollout.
Suez Canal
It’s far more than a little canal, The Suez handles more than a tenth of the worlds shipping, and this week what was at first an amusing media story about a big ship jamming up the shipping lane, has become a shipping nightmare story. The super container ship the Ever Given blocked the canal and it now could take weeks to free the ship as it holds up 10 billion dollars a day in goods that can’t be moved through the canal.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56533250
American Democracy
Georgia voting law changes are deeply disturbing and if the law enacted yesterday stands it will stop Democrats from holding power in the State again, and block many black voters from having a voice.
The bill requires photos id to vote by mail instead of signature matching, it reduces drop boxes and cuts the amount of time voters can ask for absentee ballots, and it makes it a crime for people to hand out food and water to voters standing in line to vote!
It also cancels the authority of the Secretary of State who as you will remember in that famous phone call with Trump refused to “just find” some more votes, or cheat the results by giving Trump a win he didn’t have.
The bill is being described as an attempt to keep control and keep power at any cost. These changes to the voting laws of Georgia were largely done behind closed doors by State legislators, and can’t be overstated in terms of the threat to American democracy and the right for free voting in a critical State. Watch this story.
Democratic state Rep. Park Cannon was arrested on Thursday after she knocked on Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s statehouse office door as he signed the bill into law.
The only way this law can be overturned is by a Democrat sponsored bill in the U.S. Senate designed to protect voters from State voting amendments, but the Republican filibuster (where they talk endlessly to stop a vote being taken) is blocking that effort.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/georgia-legislator-arrested-pulled-out-of-state-capitol-as-governor-signs-voting-law/ar-BB1eYFRA?ocid=uxbndlbing
Why We Hate
Why are we seeing a record number of hate crimes against the world against Asians and many other ethnic groups?
How does hate spread on the internet with little or no regulation?
Has hate become super charged in the pandemic?
Are we wired to hate or is it learned and how do we unlearn what is peddled by those who draft haters into white supremacist groups and bizarre cults like QAnon?
On this Back Story host Dana Lewis talks to Matt Williams who has just authored The Science of Hate.
And Philosopher Prof. Todd Mei on how he's coaching companies on reaching employees even in a pandemic to foster a better workplace and how we can all improve public discourse.
Check out this podcast it’s well worth your time.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1016881/8209054
Biden
President Biden didn’t make any hard promises on gun control in his first big news conference, even though stricter controls are being called for in the wake of the mass shooting in Colorado which took 10 lives. He instead focused on the vaccine rollout promising 200 million jabs in his first 100 days.
The news conference was a dead end with no questions asked by journalists on the pandemic (seriously!) and Biden making no promises on how he will deal with immigration problems at the border, or the Senate filibuster. It wasn’t as bad as the Trump nonsense, but it also was disappointing.
The news conference touched on many challenges America faces, from China’s challenges to America, to Afghanistan when Biden wants to pull the last U.S. troops out by the end of this year but it will be difficult as violence by the Taliban is unrelenting. But the Democrats big problem is the Senate filibuster by Republicans;
Democrats are increasingly worried that despite having control of Congress and the White House, they will lose their chance to enact legislation on priorities they have long championed — climate change, immigrations, guns, voting rights and the minimum wage.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-promises-to-tackle-the-nations-crises-but-says-some-may-wait/2021/03/25/a22b6fec-8d8d-11eb-a6bd-0eb91c03305a_story.html
That’s my Friday morning take. Have a good weekend everyone.
Dana
Really enjoyed the podcast The Science of Hate. Very timely. Thanks - look forward to more of the same!
Oh thanks Steve! The HateLab is a remarkable project in the UK. And the author Matt Williams really interesting. I recommend the book The Science of Hate. Incredibly informative on the internet and even AI. Cheers!