Stimulus Package, Femicide, Armenian PM
March 11, 2021
Yesterday’s Newsletter / March 11, 2021
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Congress clears the nearly $1.9 trillion stimulus plan for President Biden’s signature
Summary: After a winning vote in the House, a $1.9 trillion stimulus package is on its way to President Biden to be signed on Friday; once the sweeping elements of this package go into effect, another round of direct payments will go out to most Americans, many COVID-era programs will be extended, more funds will be made available to state governments and vaccine-distribution programs, and quite a few others things ($1.9 trillion is a LOT of money).
Context: This package, as written, was fairly contentious on the political fringes—it lost a very popular $15/hour minimum wage component, for instance, which didn’t sit well with those on the left, and it provided money to states that some argued those states didn’t actually need, which didn’t sit well with the right—but many Republicans, even those who voted against it, later came out in support of elements of it, and polls indicate that this package is incredibly popular among people of all political stripes: so there’s a good chance this will be seen as a political win for Biden, and a lifeline for many people struggling in the COVID-afflicted US.
Also: Merrick Garland is confirmed as US Attorney General
—The New York Times
Women in Mexico are protesting femicide, and police have responded with force
Summary: Nearly 1,000 women in Mexico were killed for being women in 2020, and protests in response to these killings that aligned with International Women’s Day were dismissed by Mexico’s President, López Obrador, as a political plot by his conservative opponents (he’s a populist with a leftist history).
Context: These protests were specifically focused on femicide, which typically means the killing of women because they are women—a gender-based hate crime that is internationally recognized and unfortunately common in some places—and these protestors argued, among other things, that this keeps happening, in part, because those in power support and protect people who assault and look down upon women; is as the case, according to the protestors, with a gubernatorial candidate that Obrador threw his lot behind, recently.
—The Washington Post
Armenian opposition blockades parliament to demand PM quits
Summary: Thousands of opposition protestors blocked the Armenian parliament building on Tuesday and demanded that the Prime Minster step down after what they consider to be a horrible showing in a recent military conflict with neighboring Azerbaijan.
Context: That recent conflict lasted about six weeks, and ended with an Azerbaijani victory over the Armenian forces; a loss that led the military’s General Staff to demand the Prime Minister’s resignation, but the PM refused and fired the chief of the General Staff, instead.
—The Associated Press
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Number of new books about climate change in the US in 2020, up from just 19 in 2010, according to market data from NDP Group.
This increase in relevant titles runs parallel to the increasing concern about climate change in the US: according to polling, 66% of Americans were somewhat or very worried about climate change at the end of 2020, compared to just 53% in 2011.
—Reuters
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Yesterday’s Newsletter is published by analytic journalist and host of the Let’s Know Things podcast, Colin Wright.