'No such plan': Modi govt dismisses report it's considering extension of coronavirus lockdown beyond April 14
rt.com | 2020-03-30
New Delhi has denied that it has been considering an extension of the 21-day lockdown for a week, with fears mounting that a massive migrant exodus is bound to undermine the effect of the measure. | India has been in a state of a complete lockdown since March 25, after Indian PM Narendra Modi announced sweeping restrictions on movement and ordered all non-essential commerce to shut down. | Public transport came to a screeching halt, with most states banning inter-state bus routes, railway lines and, in some cases, private transport, including buses and auto-rickshaws. While the measure was aimed at emptying th…
rt.com/news/484442-india-lockdown-extension-migrants/
Trump administration and Mexican government collaborate to deny life-saving care to refugees with HIV
wsws.org | 2020-03-30
HIV-positive immigrants seeking asylum in the United States, who face a growing shortage of key medication in Mexico to maintain their compromised immune systems, must now also contend with a growing coronavirus epidemic.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/30/mexi-m30.html
As the World Tackles the COVID-19 Pandemic, the U.S. Raises the Pressure on Venezuela
Vijay Prashad, Paola Estrada, Ana Maldonado, and Zoe PC | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-30
In a press conference on March 26, it was almost comical how little evidence the U.S. Department of Justice provided when it accused Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro and several of the leaders of his government of narco-trafficking. The U.S. offered $15 million for the arrest of Maduro and $10 million for the others. Maduro, U.S.
counterpunch.org/2020/03/30/as-the-world-tackles-the-covid-19-pandemic-the-u-s-raises-the-pressure-on-venezuela/
What's Wrong with Ranked Choice Voting
ADRIAN KUZMINSKI | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-30
An electoral reform popular with many political activists and commentators is ranked choice voting, also called cumulative or preferential voting. Instead of voting for just one candidate from a list, as we normally do, ranked choice voting allows each of us to vote for two or more candidates, ranking them respectively as first choice, second…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/30/whats-wrong-with-ranked-choice-voting/
Peace is the New Priority for Planet Earth after CoVid19 Crisis
DLI | indybay.org | 2020-03-30
For decades Peace activists have been clamoring that the misplaced US priority on Militarism(wasting Trillions of dollars and narrowly focusing on imagined foreign enemies and/or real terrorists spawned by US policies)will decisively harm the health of citizens and the Planet itself. Sadly, 60 years after President Eisenhower warned of the danger of the Military Industrial Complex overshadowing the health and welfare of our society, the Peace agenda is still being sidelined to near extinction, both by the political ruling elite of Pentagon-Wall Street hucksters, and the compliant mainstream media outlets.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/03/29/18831925.php
China: COVID-19 hospital construction worker's protest blog goes viral before being deleted
wsws.org | 2020-03-30
The worker described the wage theft and repressive conditions suffered by thousands of construction employees who build hospitals in Wuhan at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/30/chin-m30.html
Going After Maduro
Ron Jacobs | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-30
The recent indictments of Nicolas Maduro and other Venezuelan government officials on drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges is a sham. It is a politically motivated and hypocritical attack on the elected government of Venezuela. Obviously, it is another front in the ongoing US low-intensity war on the majority of Venezuelans. It is cynical in that Venezuela's neighbor Colombia has been literally governed by drug traffickers for most of the past thirty years, if not longer. | …
counterpunch.org/2020/03/30/going-after-maduro/
Trump's Narcoterrorism Indictment of Maduro Already Backfires
Leonardo Flores | zcomm.org | 2020-03-30
The indictments are another brick in the foundation for a pretext for either a direct U.S. military invasion or a proxy war…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/trumps-narcoterrorism-indictment-of-maduro-already-backfires/
To Fix the Looming Supply Chain Crisis, Nationalize Amazon
Paris Marx | zcomm.org | 2020-03-30
Dealing with the coronavirus pandemic demands a novel solution: placing the e-commerce giant under public control…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/to-fix-the-looming-supply-chain-crisis-nationalize-amazon/
The World's Major Military and Economic Powers Find Happiness Elusive
Lawrence Wittner | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-30
Long before the advent of the coronavirus pandemic left people around the world desperate for survival, a popular assumption emerged that national governments are also supposed to promote the happiness and well-being of their citizens. This idea was expressed in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, which proclaimed that governments are instituted to secure humanity's…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/30/the-worlds-major-military-and-economic-powers-find-happiness-elusive/
Mehring Yayıncılık publishes Turkish-language edition of The struggle against imperialism and for workers' power in Iran
wsws.org | 2020-03-30
First published by the WSWS in February 2018, The Struggle against Imperialism and for Workers' Power in Iran–A Reply to a Proponent of "Iranian Islamic Socialism" advances a socialist strategy for the working class in a country that has been the target of US imperialist aggression for decades.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/30/irpm-m30-m30.html
The coronavirus pandemic and the perspective of socialism
wsws.org | 2020-03-30
On Sunday, March 29, the World Socialist Web Site and the Socialist Equality Party held an online forum, "The COVID-19 pandemic: Capitalism and the making of a social and economic catastrophe."
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/30/pers-m30.html
My Dead French Grandfather Helped Me with COVID-19
Ted Rall | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-30
After my mother died on February 7th I gathered her valuables and photo albums drove home to New York. But there wasn't enough room in the car for everything I wanted to keep. There were tchotchkes like a silly white ceramic salt and pepper shaker in the shape of Arab kings. It wasn't my taste…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/30/my-dead-french-grandfather-helped-me-with-covid-19/
Alliance for the Wild Rockies Sues Trump's Bureau of Reclamation for Bull Trout Fatalities in Saint Mary-Milk River Irrigation Project on the east Side of Glacier National Park
Mike Garrity | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-30
Bull trout are one of the largest native salmonids in Montana, capable of reaching three feet long and 25 pounds or more. A spectacularly beautiful fish, they once occupied an enormous range from the Rockies to the Pacific coast to the Yukon. But due to habitat destruction, dams, and irrigation dewatering, they were listed as…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/30/alliance-for-the-wild-rockies-sues-trumps-bureau-of-reclamation-for-bull-trout-fatalities-in-saint-mary-milk-river-irrigation-project-on-the-east-side-of-glacier-national-park/
Racial Profiling Disorder: the All-American Pandemic
John G. Russell | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-30
Please, please help me. No, I don't want to put handcuffs on. No! Don't put handcuffs on! No, I want to stay in school, I just got here. Let go of me. No, please let me go…I don't wanna go in a police car. No, please give me a second chance!
Stay Home, Stay Angry
Jill Richardson | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-30
Social distancing is hard, and it's not fun. I don't question that we are doing what is necessary. Until better testing, treatment, and prevention are available, it is. But quarantining us in our homes separates us at a time when we need connection. And you know what? It's okay to feel angry about that. It's…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/30/stay-home-stay-angry/
The New World of Coronavirus
Cesar Chelala | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-30
The tragedy of September 11, 2001, and the coronavirus pandemic have one thing in common: both caused a seismic change in the world. And that change, in general, is for the worse. The present pandemic has, and will have, negative effects on how people work, live, and use their free time. This huge public health…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/30/the-new-world-of-coronavirus/
The Virus is Our Teacher
Robert Koehler | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-30
Last Sunday at 11 a.m. I went for a walk. Even if it's nothing special, a walk isn't a normal thing to do these days. But this brief walk
Washington Uses the Pandemic to Create a $2 Trillion Slush Fund for Its Cronies
Marshall Auerback | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-30
When historians look back on our current government's response to a public health emergency and resultant economic depression, there won't be many paeans to profiles in courage. It may seem impressive that Congress has approved legislation worth $2 trillion to help sustain the American economy, but it's no New Deal. Rather it's a massive economic slush fund…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/30/washington-uses-the-pandemic-to-create-a-2-trillion-slush-fund-for-its-cronies/
COVID-19 Proves It: We Need Medicare-for-All
Ashar Foley | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-30
For decades, critics of single-payer health care have raised the menace of rationed care, long waits, and "death panels." Now, in our collective national effort to "flatten the curve"
How My Dad Predicted the Decline of America
William Astore | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-30
My dad was born in 1917. Somehow, he survived the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1919, but an outbreak of whooping cough in 1923 claimed his baby sister, Clementina. One of my dad's first memories was seeing his sister's tiny white casket. Another sister was permanently marked by scarlet fever. In 1923, my dad was hit…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/30/how-my-dad-predicted-the-decline-of-america/
Are You Prepared to Needlessly Die for Your Country?
Wim Laven | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-30
When I was a young boy, I used to play war, and watch movies that celebrated violence. Rambo showed the awesome potential for a single devoted patriot to turn the tables on evil. I had a glamorous account of war, and as an 8-year-old I did not understand why my father cried when we went…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/30/are-you-prepared-to-needlessly-die-for-your-country/
A Citizens' Call to Invoke the Twenty-fifth Amendment
Rob Okun | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-30
Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/30/a-citizens-call-to-invoke-the-twenty-fifth-amendment/
Dying Planet and a Virus Unleashed
Arshad Khan, Meena Miriam Yust | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-30
If the coronavirus is life-threatening, and the whole of the USA is in lockdown, the speed of its arrival and impact should at least remind us of the fragility of life
Decarceration: COVID-19 is Opportunity Knocking
Thomas Knapp | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-30
On March 23, 14 US Senators from both major political parties asked US Attorney General William Barr and Michael Carvajal, director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, to "transfer non-violent offenders who are at high risk for suffering complications from COVID-19 to home confinement." It's a smart idea, and one local jails and state prisons…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/30/decarceration-covid-19-is-opportunity-knocking/
Covid-19: Our Health Crisis is Born of Bigotry
Laura Flanders | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-30
"A bridge is no stronger than its weakest part." Former slave turned educator Anna Julia Cooper uttered those very contemporary-sounding words back in 1892. The US didn't heed them then; we haven't heeded them yet. The big question, brought home to us one more time by the Covid-19 crisis, is why not? What does American…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/30/covid-19-our-health-crisis-is-born-of-bigotry/
Reclaiming Vacant Homes in the COVID-19 Pandemic
Seth Sandronsky | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-30
There are homes without people. More visible are the people without homes. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March, homeless and housing insecure folks in the Los Angeles area moved into publicly owned vacant homes as politicians and public health experts told people to take precautions to avoid infection. One precaution was for people to stay…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/30/reclaiming-vacant-homes-in-the-covid-19-pandemic/
Tokyo could announce new Olympics date this week, organizers say
rt.com | 2020-03-30
A decision on a new date for Japan's Olympics could come as early as this week, the president of the Tokyo organizing committee Yoshiro Mori said on Monday. The Games had been postponed because of a coronavirus pandemic. | Last week's decision was a huge blow to Japan, which invested $13 billion in the run-up to the Games. However, financial markets were initially cheered by the decision, with some investors having anticipated cancellation, Reuters said. | "We need to swiftly decide on the new date," Mori said at the start of a committee meeting, its first since the move to delay the Games. Mori added that he…
rt.com/newsline/484452-tokyo-new-olympics-date/
Australian governments pour billions more into big business as pandemic spreads
wsws.org | 2020-03-30
The stark discrepancy between the "economic" and "health" packages epitomises the response of Australia's bipartisan "national cabinet."
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/30/aust-m30.html
Iran's Covid-19 death toll reaches 2,757 with almost 41,500 identified cases
rt.com | 2020-03-30
There are 41,495 Covid-19 cases in Iran, the country's health officials reported in the latest update. The death toll from the pandemic has reached 2,757 in the Islamic Republic, a nation hit hard by the viral disease. | …
rt.com/news/484464-iran-covid19-death-toll/
Coronavirus cases surge in Turkey as anger grows among workers at government response
wsws.org | 2020-03-30
Turkey's death toll from the coronavirus increased by 23 to 131 yesterday, as the number of confirmed cases rose 1,815 to 9,217.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/30/turk-m30.html
Deteriorating economic conditions sink global stock markets
rt.com | 2020-03-30
Stocks in Asia and Europe suffered fresh losses on Monday due to unrelenting pressure from the worsening global spread of Covid-19. The virus has already infected more than 724,000 people worldwide and caused 34,017 deaths. | Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped almost four percent at the opening, Hong Kong's Hang Sang Index slid 1.9 percent and China's Shanghai Composite fell about 1.4 percent. | All the European stocks also tanked in early trading, with shares in France off the most. The CAC 40 was down 2.6 percent while London's FTSE 100 nosedived two percent. Germany's DAX was lower by 1.5 percent and the pan-Europe…
rt.com/business/484447-global-stock-markets-plunge-coronavirus/
Working Behind the Scenes in the Pandemic
Peter van Agtmael, The Nation, The Magnum Foundation | thenation.com | 2020-03-30
Peter van Agtmael, The Nation, The Magnum Foundation Working Behind the Scenes in the Pandemic…
thenation.com/article/society/coronavirus-workers-photos/
Beijing boasts 93% recovery rate & NO new cases in Hubei for sixth day after saying local Covid-19 spread 'STOPPED'
rt.com | 2020-03-30
No new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in China's central Hubei Province and its capital Wuhan, where the outbreak originally began, the National Health Commission (NHC) told reporters during a press briefing on Monday. | Overall, 81,470 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in mainland China since the beginning of the outbreak, and 75,770 of them have subsequently recovered and were discharged from the hospitals, a health official said. This makes the recovery rate in the country close to 93 percent. | Chinese doctors have recorded 31 new cases and four deaths in the past 24 hours, with all but…
rt.com/news/484450-china-covid19-recovery-rate/
Oakland passes coronavirus rent freeze & eviction ban
By Lynda Carson | indybay.org | 2020-03-30
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, on March 27, 2020, the Oakland City Council passed an emergency ordinance prohibiting landlords from evicting residential and commercial tenants. The emergency ordinance which includes a freeze on rents took effect immediately, and will last at least until May 31!
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/03/29/18831930.php
EasyJet grounds entire fleet as Covid-19 hammers global travel industry
rt.com | 2020-03-30
UK budget carrier EasyJet said on Monday that it has parked its entire fleet after completing repatriation flights. The coronavirus health crisis is bringing the global travel industry to a halt. | According to the company, it has worked out an agreement with cabin crew, who will get 80 percent of their pay under a government program. EasyJet said it is looking for ways to increase its access to cash, adding that the company has a strong balance sheet and no maturities until 2022. | "We are in ongoing discussions with liquidity providers who recognize our strength of balance sheet and business model," said Eur…
rt.com/business/484448-easyjet-grounded-fleet-coronavirus/
Global number of Covid-19 cases smashes past 700,000
rt.com | 2020-03-30
The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases around the world has soared past the 700,000 milestone, according to tallies carried out by Johns Hopkins University and the AFP news agency. | The total number of cases worldwide now stands at over 724,000, as several regional outbreaks have led to major spikes in the numbers, most notably in the United States. | Authorities in the US are now reporting upwards of 143,000 cases, followed by Italy with 97,600 and China, the original epicentre of the pandemic, with 82,000 cases. | As of early Monday, the total number of deaths from the disease now stands at 34,026. More tha…
rt.com/news/484454-worldwide-coronavirus-cases-700000/
Minister in one of Germany's wealthiest states commits suicide 'over coronavirus worries'
rt.com | 2020-03-30
The finance minister in the German state of Hesse, Thomas Schaefer, has taken his own life. His colleagues said he was pushed over the edge by an inability to cope with the harsh economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. | Schaefer's body was discovered near the speed railway track line in the town of Hochheim am Main on Saturday. Prosecutors said that the cause of his death was most likely suicide. | "We are in shock; we are in disbelief and above all we are immensely sad," Volker Bouffier, head of the Hesse regional government, said of the passing of his close associate and fellow member of Angela Merkel'…
rt.com/news/484437-germany-hesse-minister-suicide-coronavirus/
As COVID-19 Reaches Santa Rita Jail, Decarceration Becomes More Urgent
Ella Baker Center | indybay.org | 2020-03-30
Oakland, CA
China must stimulate the economy sustainably after coronavirus
Yao Zhe & Wu Yixiu | zcomm.org | 2020-03-30
Government spending should incentivize consumption of public goods and services, not big infrastructure and heavy industry…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/china-must-stimulate-the-economy-sustainably-after-coronavirus/
California governor signs a deceptive statewide COVID-19 tenant eviction ban
Lynda Carson | indybay.org | 2020-03-30
Presently many people throughout California are under orders to shelter-in-place, and must remain at least 6 feet in distance (social distancing) from others because of the coronavirus, and COVID-19. As a result they may have lost their jobs, their income, and can not pay their rent. Do not be fooled by the governors deceptive COVID-19 so-called ban on evictions!
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/03/29/18831927.php
Know Your Rights during COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
National Lawyers Guild | indybay.org | 2020-03-30
While the COVID-19 pandemic necessitates public health measures to reduce the impact of the virus on our communities and health care systems, we must be vigilant and resist authoritarian and violent tendencies.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/03/28/18831875.php
Out From Under 'the Economy'
Sheetal Chhabria, Aparna Gopalan | thenation.com | 2020-03-30
Out From Under 'the Economy'…
thenation.com/article/economy/coronavirus-economics-markets/
UK government sources speak of "blood on our hands" over coronavirus due to NHS cuts
wsws.org | 2020-03-30
The Telegraph article makes clear the NHS was unable to deal with the outbreak of a pandemic because of the decade long and ongoing austerity programme designed to make the working class pay for the trillion-pound bailout of the banks in 2008.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/30/cygn-m30.html
Morrisons to give foodbanks £10m during coronavirus outbreak
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-03-30
Supermarket chain Morrisons is to give away £10m worth of goods to foodbanks across the country during the Covid-19 pandemic.David Potts, chief executive of Morrisons, said its bakery, egg and fruit & vegetable departments will run for an extra hour every day to make, prepare and pack food required to restock the services.It will also be sending deliveries of ambient food
Navajo Nation reports two deaths and 92 cases of coronavirus
Brenda Norrell | indybay.org | 2020-03-30
Navajo coronavirus cases increased to 92 cases, with two confirmed deaths. There were 21 new cases of the virus in the past 24 hours for Dine' living in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/03/28/18831887.php
City at centre of China's virus outbreak gradually revives
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-03-30
Shopkeepers in the city at the centre of the virus outbreak in China were reopening on Monday but customers were scarce after authorities lifted more of the anti-virus controls that kept tens of millions of people at home for two months."I'm so excited, I want to cry," said a woman in the Chuhe Hanjie pedestrian shopping area.She said she was a teacher in the eastern city of Nanjing visiting her family in Wuhan when the government locked down the city in late January to stem the spread of the coronavirus.Some 70% to 80% of shops on the retail street were open but many imposed limits on how many people could enter…
thecanary.co/global/world-news/2020/03/30/city-at-centre-of-chinas-virus-outbreak-gradually-revives/
India's calamitous lockdown, punishes poor while undermining efforts to halt spread of coronavirus
wsws.org | 2020-03-30
The Modi government's ill-prepared, three-week lockdown has resulted in chaos, including large disorganized movements of desperate poor people, thereby providing conditions conducive to the rapid spread of COVID-19.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/30/inco-m30.html
Leading epidemiologist says Detroit is facing a coronavirus "tsunami"
wsws.org | 2020-03-30
The coronavirus pandemic is exploding in Detroit and surrounding communities as Michigan overtook Washington as the state with the fourth most confirmed cases of the infection.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/30/lead-m30.html
ACSO Requests $255M in New Funding; COVID-19 Reaches Santa Rita Without Plans in Place
IWOC Oakland | indybay.org | 2020-03-30
Just over a week into the "shelter in place" directive that is now statewide, COVID-19 has reached Santa Rita Jail. The County confirmed on March 26 that a nurse working in one of the jail's housing units has tested positive for the virus. In response, that pod as well as one other in Santa Rita were placed under quarantine on Friday, March 27. The second pod was quarantined allegedly in response to a case of pneumonia or other similar medical condition. All transportation of detainees between the jail and the federal courthouse has been suspended, according to a federal court notice. Community advocates warn tha…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/03/29/18831919.php