Senator Menendez represents Big Pharma, and intends to torpedo plans to let Medicare negotiate drug prices. Other advanced countries have national medical systems which do negotiate in this way. In the US, the power of plutocracy has blocked this, and with Menendez's help, may block it again.

However, the underlying problem is the existence of patents that governments have bound themselves to respect even at the cost of people's lives.

The argument for medical patents would lose much of its apparent force if we took the tests for approval of medicines out of the hands of the drug manufacturers. That way of organizing them makes them susceptible to corruption. The funding for these tests should not have a direct interest in whether the drug is approved or not.

Daniel Foote, US envoy to Haiti who resigned in protest, says that Haiti is so unstable and dangerous that it is dangerous to deport people there.

Progressives need to find a clear symbol to represent the purpose of the Build Back Better bill.

The name "Build Back Better" is itself so vague that it fails to say why that bill should be passed. But I don't like the term "freedom" as a description for it, because defining "freedom" as "more options" is a fundamental mistake.

Perhaps "American Dream bill" would fit, because many of the provisions would make the former "American dream" a plausible hope for most Americans once again.

*Dmitry Muratov: the Nobel winner shining light on Russia journalist murders.*

*When others stay silent about the ills of British capitalism, liars like [Bogus] Johnson rush in.*