Election Day Is (Finally) Upon Us

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Well, it’s Election Day. It’s hard to know what to say at this point about the contest between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump that has not already been said. The candidates have made their positions clear, as have the political parties they represent. The grueling campaign season is finally at its end.

Nevertheless, we have compiled a list of stories anyway from OptOut participating outlets that perhaps you missed. happy voting!

But First…

OptOut’s original reporting newsletter IMPORTANT CONTEXT published a breakdown last week of the Brownstone Institute’s annual conference. The small-but-influential right-wing dark money outfit dedicated to undermining public health hosted a number of anti-vaccine speakers and medical contrarians from the U.S. and other countries.

Not only was the event significant as a marker of how quickly Brownstone is establishing itself as a think tank, it is also possible that the group’s influence will soon reach the White House. One of the speakers, Stanford Professor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, has been floated as a possible pick for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert Kennedy Jr., who Trump has promised to let “go wild” with public health should he win.

Bhattacharya’s name should be familiar to our readers. The Stanford professor has earned a reputation as a COVID contrarian and surrounded himself with anti-vaxxer allies. He was the organizer of the Stanford health policy symposium IMPORTANT CONTEXT reported on last month that was stacked with right-wing operatives, anti-vaxxers, and lab leak promoters.

Who’s Speaking At the 2024 Brownstone Institute Conference?

This year’s fringe fest shows the extent of the anti-science group’s influence.

Important ContextWalker Bragman

Israel’s War

No issue has been thornier for Democrat Kamala Harris than Israel’s ongoing slaughter in Gaza and expanding regional war. Experts increasingly believe Israel is committing genocide, but the Biden White House has been reluctant to do much more than vocalize its discontent with the Netanyahu government’s actions. Despite the significant population of Arab voters in the critical battleground state of Michigan, Harris has remained cautiously in-line with Biden. Meanwhile, Trump had been all-in for Israel, encouraging Netanyahu to “finish the job” and claiming the war would not have happened on his watch.

THE NEW REPUBLIC had a solid commentary on Harris’s “missed opportunity.”

The Harris Campaign’s Missed Opportunity on Palestine Voters

If it seems hard to understand the Palestine voter, it is likely because they have been living very different lives from most Americans over the past year.

The New RepublicYousef Munayyer

THE INTERCEPT had a report on how progressive voters focused on Gaza see this election.

“Every Choice Is Loss”: Voters on Their Decision Amid Genocide in Gaza

Progressive Americans opposed to Israel’s U.S.-funded war in Gaza face a difficult choice: whether or not to vote for Harris.

The InterceptJonah Valdez

+972 MAGAZINE had a solid article explaining why the Democrats have been a perfect partner for the Netanyahu government.

Why the Democrats were Israel’s perfect partners in genocide

By masking support for Israel with humanitarian gestures and empathy for Palestinians, Biden and Harris have diluted pressure to end the war.

+972 MagazineJonathan Adler

Meanwhile, THE NATION reported on Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’s statement supporting Harris despite his disagreement with her over Gaza in which he noted that Netanyahu would prefer the right-wing Trump to Harris.

Bernie Sanders: “Netanyahu Prefers to Have Donald Trump in Office”

The senator disagrees with Kamala Harris on Gaza, as do millions of voters. But he’s been arguing that “Trump and his right-wing friends are worse.”

The NationJohn Nichols

Public Health in America

The COVID-19 pandemic has faded from the headlines and drifted from the public consciousness even though the virus is still circulating, mutating, and killing people and many are suffering long-term health issues from COVID. NEVADA CURRENT had a report about how Las Vegas’s tourism numbers have finally recovered.

Las Vegas tourist volume ‘almost back’ to pre-COVID levels, despite convention and overseas lags • Idaho Capital Sun

The volume of tourists to Las Vegas, Nevada, is nearing pre-pandemic levels despite convention attendance remaining 10% lower.

Idaho Capital SunApril Corbin Girnus

Meanwhile, PRISM reported that long COVID advocates have been calling on the Harris camp to do more to address the condition, which is estimated to affect tens of millions of Americans.

Advocates say the Harris campaign must address long COVID

For over four years, long COVID patients have been frustrated by a lack of public acknowledgment of the ongoing impact of COVID-19

PrismLaura Weiss

Despite—and indeed a root cause of—the suffering, the U.S. never made the major changes necessary to adapt to COVID. We have not imposed clean indoor air rules for workplaces and schools. We lack a national healthcare system. We do not have universal paid leave. Today, the threat of pandemic remains high, according to the World Health Organization.

The 2024 election will likely impact just how prepared we are for the next pandemic. THE NEW REPUBLIC had a piece analyzing the potential impacts of Kennedy running wild on public health.

Trump Unleashing RFK Jr. on Public Health Would Be a Disaster

Kennedy, an anti-vaxxer with a chilling past, says Trump has promised to name him head of Health and Human Services. The Trump camp has denied this—unconvincingly.

The New RepublicMelody Schreiber

Cuba Sanctions

The United Nations General Assembly voted on a resolution condemning U.S. sanctions on Cuba, which is experiencing rolling blackouts. It was the 32nd year in a row that the international body has taken such action. The Biden administration, however, ignored the vote.

THE REAL NEWS had the story.

UN votes 187-2 to lift US blockade of Cuba—and Washington ignores it

For the 32nd consecutive year, the UN General Assembly voted nearly unanimously to call for an end to the US blockade of Cuba. Only the US and Israel were opposed.

The Real News NetworkLiz Oliva Fernández

Although U.S.-Cuba relations experienced a thaw during the Obama years, when the president removed the country from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, President Trump reversed the decision. FAIR had a good rundown of why that matters in a broader critique of how American press has covered the island’s situation.

When Lights Go Out in Cuba, Media Blame Communism—Not US Sanctions

Reporting on Cuba’s blackouts have either omitted or paid brief lip-service to the effects of US sanctions on the Cuban economy.

FAIRTed Morgan

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