US workers go on strike in 15 cities to demand $15-an-hour minimum wage Guardian
Amazon Accused of Putting Profit Before Virus Safety in New York Bloomberg
#OpenOurSchools: GOP targets teachers unions in bid to retake suburbs NBC
Illinois Cannabis Workers Seek Unionization As Corporations Move Into Industry Labor Press
The Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 Explained As NAACP Sues Trump, Proud Boys For Violating It NewsOne
Trump, Giuliani and right-wing extremists groups are being sued in the name of a law established to protect Black people from white supremacy-waged violence.
George Floyd’s Family Slams LAPD’s ‘Take My Breath Away’ Valentine’s Day ‘Cruelty’ NewsOne
Texas
Texas Blackouts Hit Minority Neighborhoods Especially Hard NYTimes
Texplainer: Why does Texas have its own power grid? Texas Tribune
Frozen Wind Farms Are Just a Small Piece of Texas’s Power Woes Bloomberg
Don’t point too many fingers at Texas wind turbines, because they’re not the main reason broad swaths of the state have been plunged into darkness.
While ice has forced some turbines to shut down just as a brutal cold wave drives record electricity demand, that’s been the least significant factor in the blackouts, according to Dan Woodfin, a senior director for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the state’s power grid.
The main factors: Frozen instruments at natural gas, coal and even nuclear facilities, as well as limited supplies of natural gas, he said. “Natural gas pressure” in particular is one reason power is coming back slower than expected Tuesday, added Woodfin.
It's looking like power plants in Texas unplugged to avoid skyrocketing natural gas spot market rates that went to hundreds of $$ to avoid losses. @ERCOT_ISO has now passed an emergency order allowing them to charge consumers those spot market prices. Capitalism at its finest. pic.twitter.com/xxaHsSbgCX
— Joel Montfort 🌊 (@jmontforttx) February 16, 2021
Haiti
Jovenel Moïse Still Holds Power in Haiti, but the Tide May be Turning Haïti Liberté
#COVID19
Covid-Linked Syndrome in Children Is Growing and Cases Are More Severe NYTimes
Optimism as Cuba set to test its own Covid vaccine BBC
Israel blocks Covid-19 vaccines destined for Gaza Middle East Eye
Long COVID is an inconvenient truth for proponents of the grossly unethical infection-acquired herd immunity strategy (AKA: let the virus spread).
Of course long COVID is being downplayed. https://t.co/FOG2DltHKw
— Dr Zoë Hyde (@DrZoeHyde) February 17, 2021
Indigenous Peoples
Oglala Senator Introduces Bills Protecting Native American Two-Spirit in South Dakota Native News Online
Texas
Blame the wind? In Texas, fossil fuels have actually played a larger role in leaving millions without power Business Insider
Texas Freeze Raises Cost Of Charging A Tesla To $900
Philippines
Outrage in Philippines over mass arrest in a sanctuary school for indigenous children Peoples Dispatch
Spain
Spanish police storm university, arrest rapper Pablo Hasel convicted in free speech case
Syria
Trump Wanted to “Assassinate” Syrian President, Reveals Former Adviser OrinocoTribune
CBO Not Competent to Assess Economics of Minimum Wage INET
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