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Friday, August 2, 2024

Racist remarks from black activists tied to Kamala Harris could spell trouble for Dem ticket

 A pair of black female activists, who have met with Vice President Harris several times and previously vowed to get “real serious” about helping her become the next president, could alienate some of the “White women for Kamala” supporters with their past rhetoric as they mobilize ahead of November’s election.

Cora Masters Barry, an appointee of Democrat D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and longtime civil rights activist, and Melanie Campbell, who leads the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, have visited the White House more than 50 times combined during the Biden administration, including nearly a dozen visits with Harris or her staff, a Fox News Digital review found.

Weeks before President Biden and Harris were sworn into office in 2021, Barry and Campbell participated in a public Zoom call in which they made controversial statements about Trump supporters and used an expletive against White voters, specifically White women, which could cause some internal clashes as different coalitions mobilize to try to get Harris into the White House.

Approximately 164,000 White women hopped on a Zoom call last week, which was organized by Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts and other female celebrities. The call, titled “White Women: Answer the Call,” reportedly raised millions of dollars for Harris’ campaign and could be a major fundraising force over the next few months. 

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However, the unearthed comments from the two activists could cause some internal tension for the Harris campaign as they look to mobilize different voting blocs and have called for “Unity.”

A Zoom call with thousands of white women organized by Moms Demand Action raised millions of dollars for Harris’ campaign.AP

“If you claim to stand for unity, you need to do more than just use the word,” Harris recently said.

“We have to change our strategy. We got to get our people. We have to get our – they got their people. They got all the trailer parks all covered,” Barry said during the Zoom. “All them people up in West Virginia and the hills, they’re covered. They got them all the way there to Wall Street.”

“[Trump] did that, and we’re sitting here talking about the White women. F–k the white women– excuse me – forget the White women. They’re going to do what the White men tell them to do,” Barry continued, eliciting laughter and clapping from Campbell.

“What they tell themselves,” Campbell interjected.

Melanie Campbell has visited the White House during the Biden-Harris administration over 50 times.X / @ncbcp_bwr

“They be smiling in their faces, they want to stay in charge,” Barry continued, with Campbell reacting affirmatively in the background. “I don’t care nothing about them, we got to do what we got to do.”

Barry went on to say that the Black community has to “get real serious about organizing to elect Kamala Harris as the next President of the United States” and that she doesn’t “want no women’s parade.”

“If they have another Women’s March – I’ll go over there and blow it up,” Barry said.

Barry also attacked supporters of then-President Trump, comparing them to the Ku Klux Klan by saying, “I’m not saying everyone who voted for Trump is wearing a white sheet, but they got one in their closet, and it comes out when we start messing with the economic value or the balance of power.”

Barry went on to say at the time that, should Biden win the 2020 election, her group has “got to start organizing to make sure that the next president of the United States is a Black woman.”

“And that’s not going to happen if we don’t reach all of our Black people, because they’re the ones who are going to put her in there,” Barry added. “Those White folks ain’t going to put her in there.”

During the same Zoom call, Campbell was also critical of White women who have cast their votes for Trump, saying “race” and “White privilege” were driving factors and that she didn’t understand how they could support someone who “disrespects you as a woman.”

Activist Cora Masters Barry dismissed white women as a whole, believing that they will only vote and act the way that white men want them to.X / @iamcorabarry

“Am I surprised? No. Am I frustrated? Yeah – determined that we have to still find a way to get up and deal with it,” Campbell said. “What I’m not interested in doing is what I did, Cora, in 2016 is have these fruitless conversations with my White girlfriends who want to tell me we need to sit down and have a conversation. No we don’t. You need to go talk to your sister. You need to go talk to your cousin.”

“I have no interest in understanding why White folks do what they do. They do what they do because they doing what they do if I was them. They’re fighting to stay in charge and in control. That’s what they’re doing. I ain’t mad at them. What I am is mad at us,” Barry added, referring to the Black community.

Near the end of the Zoom call, Barry said it is a “perfect time” to mobilize Black voters and push their agenda “because there’s a lot of White guilt money out there.”

“I’m gonna take it- put it in my community and radicalize my people so they can come for your job. I’m saying it’s time to act,” she continued.

During Barry’s remarks at the private ceremony, she praised Farrakhan, who has espoused antisemitic rhetoric for decades, including calling Jews “wicked” and comparing them to termites. Barry referred to Farrakhan as a “friend” and “member of the family” while also telling him “I love you more than words will ever say.”

“Minister Farrakhan, we love you more than you love us. You just don’t know it,” she added.

Farrakhan in turn praised Barry, saying, “Praise God for this woman. She is a treasure. A real treasure.”

A spokesperson for both Barry and Campbell defended the comment about White women, previously telling Fox News Digital that the comment was in reference to how White women are not as reliable Democrat voters and that the vice president was not part of the conversation.

https://nypost.com/2024/08/02/us-news/black-activists-who-support-kamala-say/

Inspire Medical Sleep Apnea System OKd

 Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. (NYSE: INSP) (Inspire), a medical technology company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative, minimally invasive solutions for patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), today announced the FDA approval of the Inspire V therapy system which includes the next generation neurostimulator and the associated Bluetooth® patient remote and physician programmer.

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/08/02/2923587/0/en/Inspire-Medical-Systems-Inc-Announces-FDA-Approval-of-the-Inspire-V-System.html

CenterPoint Energy won’t pass Hurricane Beryl costs onto customers

 CenterPoint Energy plans to withdraw its 2024 rate case filing with the Public Utilities Commission of Texas (PUC).

It’s a pretty dramatic reversal after CEO Jason Wells admitted to Texas lawmakers on Monday that the company planned to pass on its costs for Hurricane Beryl by asking for a rate increase.

In a statement released by the company late Thursday, CenterPoint said the decision to withdraw the request was centered around rebuilding trust with the community and wanting to focus on improving resiliency around Houston as the hurricane season continues.

The company recently provided a new outage map, which can be found here.

“We are acting urgently to strengthen our resiliency, improve our communications and emergency coordination,” CenterPoint CEO and President Jason Wells said in the aforementioned statement. “We believe any delay or distraction from this mission is unacceptable. Our company’s collective focus for the remainder of this hurricane season will be on being ready: that is our mission. Nothing is more important than being ready for the next hurricane and rebuilding the trust of the community we are privileged to serve.”

https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2024/08/01/centerpoint-energy-withdraws-request-to-increase-electricity-rates/

Agios Blood Disorder Drug Misses Primary Goal

 Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AGIO) released topline results from the global Phase 3 ACTIVATE-KidsT study of mitapivat in children aged 1 to <18 years with PK deficiency who are regularly transfused.

Pyruvate kinase deficiency is a rare genetic disorder characterized by the premature destruction of red blood cells.

Using Bayesian methodology, the prespecified statistical criterion for the primary endpoint in ACTIVATE-KidsT was not met using low or moderate borrowing of data from the ACTIVATE-T study in adults.

In the ACTIVATE-KidsT study, 28.1% of patients in the mitapivat arm achieved the primary endpoint of transfusion reduction response, compared to 11.8% of patients in the placebo arm.

Transfusion-free response and normal hemoglobin response were secondary endpoints in this study and were only observed in patients in the mitapivat arm.

Mitapivat was generally safe and well-tolerated, with safety results consistent with the safety profile for mitapivat previously observed in adults with PK deficiency who are regularly transfused.

Six patients (18.8%) in the mitapivat arm compared to 0 in the placebo arm had a transfusion-free response, defined as no red blood cell transfusions from Week 9 through Week 32 of the double-blind period.

Four patients (12.5%) in the mitapivat arm achieved a normal hemoglobin response compared to 0 in the placebo arm.

Pyrukynd (mitapivat) is a pyruvate kinase activator indicated for hemolytic anemia in adults with pyruvate kinase (PK) deficiency in the U.S. and PK deficiency in adult patients in the European Union.

In addition, Agios has completed enrollment in the ACTIVATE-Kids study of mitapivat in children with PK deficiency who are not regularly transfused and expects to report topline data in 2025.

In the second quarter, the company reported Pyrukynd sales of $8.6 million, up from $6.71 million a year ago, missing the consensus of $9.31 million.

The company reported an EPS loss of $(1.69), up from $(1.51) a year ago and missing the consensus of $(1.60).

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/agios-pharmaceuticals-rare-blood-disorder-174210760.html