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President Joe Biden has ordered a series of executive actions on gun control in the wake of mass shootings in Georgia, Colorado and elsewhere, calling gun violence in the U.S. an "epidemic" and an "international embarrassment." The most significant executive order aims to crack down on so-called ghost guns — easily assembled firearms bought over the internet without serial numbers, which account for about a third of guns recovered at crime scenes. Biden has also nominated gun control advocate David Chipman to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, but acknowledged this week that major new gun control measures, like an assault weapons ban and universal background checks, will require legislation from Congress. "We are calling on Congress to carry the torch here and pass additional laws to keep Americans safe and save American lives," says Brian Lemek, executive director of Brady PAC.

A new Amnesty International report lays out how the pandemic has significantly exacerbated inequality across the Americas over the past year. Over 1.3 million people have died in the region from COVID-19, making the Americas the hardest-hit area in the world. Women, refugees, migrants, underprotected health workers, Indigenous peoples, Black people and other groups historically excluded and neglected by governments have borne the brunt of the pandemic, according to the report, which also points out the rise in gender violence and lethal crackdown on human rights defenders. "It's not a surprise that the Americas has been the region worst hit by the pandemic," says Erika Guevara-Rosas, a human rights lawyer and Americas director for Amnesty International. "Growing inequality, corruption, violence, environmental degradation and impunity created a fertile ground for the Americas to become the epicenter."

As Joe Manchin Exerts More Power Over Biden's Agenda, an Analysis of What Motivates His Stance | Biden's Modest Proposals to Curb an "Epidemic" of Gun Violence | Absent a GOP Platform, Right Wing Media's Outrage Machine Stokes the Culture Wars backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Republican Hysteria Over Vaccine Passports | McConnell Picks a Losing Fight With Corporate America | Putin as a Weak Strongman and Personalist Autocracies backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

On today's BradCast: Maybe we've been too quick to say that Republicans no longer have any governing philosophy or legislative agenda. They do. And it's being carried out. Just not be elected officials. [Audio link to full show is posted below.] But first up today, following 'good' news for Alabamians on yesterday's BradCast, as the state's [...]

We try like crazy to avoid sleazy, tabloid sensationalism on The BradCast. But, at this point at least, the Republican Party has made that pretty much all but impossible. Just covering any of the latest actual, legitimate news from the party which seems to be in free fall right now, necessarily requires a whole bunch [...]

FEATURING PROF. ROBIN D. G. KELLEY – The trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd has unfolded on television screens across America, bringing up painful reminders of what happened on May 25th 2020, and unearthing new details about an incident that sparked a mass movement. It seems that on trial is not...

FEATURING NOAM CHOMSKY – One of the most well-known left intellectual scholars and authors, Noam Chomsky, in a new book Chomsky for Activists, delves into his formative years as a young Jewish American youth opposing the march of fascism in Europe, his friendship with historian Howard Zinn, his reflections on Zionism and Palestine and more....