The viral debt trap
Editor | workers.org | 2020-04-21
The International Monetary Fund is giving itself a pat on the back for approving "immediate debt service relief" to 25 of the poorest countries in the world because of the coronavirus pandemic. It made the announcement on April 13. But don't cheer for the imperialist bankers. What these impoverished countries . . . | Continue reading The viral debt trap at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/04/47843/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-viral-debt-trap
Unemployment explosion reveals class conflict
John Catalinotto | workers.org | 2020-04-21
April 19
Fighting for health, for us and the planet
Editor | workers.org | 2020-04-21
Workers World celebrates the historic 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Launched by a mass outpouring of demonstrators in 1970, this day continues to mobilize scientific and coordinated efforts to defend the health of our planet and of us who live here. Earth Day is still urgently needed as a call . . . | Continue reading Fighting for health, for us and the planet at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/04/47846/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ww-editorial-fighting-for-health-for-us-and-the-planet
Mumia Abu-Jamal supporters respond quickly to prison hoax
Betsey Piette | workers.org | 2020-04-21
When a Pennsylvania Department of Corrections spokesperson callously claimed that Mumia Abu-Jamal was being hospitalized with COVID-19 at 5 p.m. on April 15, the news was shared worldwide in minutes. Supporters, who have been misled by DOC statements in the past, immediately flooded the institution with calls demanding confirmation from . . . | Continue reading Mumia Abu-Jamal supporters respond quickly to prison hoax at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/04/47861/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mumia-abu-jamal-supporters-respond-quickly-to-prison-hoax
A prescription for health care justice
Workers World staff | workers.org | 2020-04-21
After much discussion, the health care workers caucus
Human Rights Watch cabildea por sanciones letales contra Nicaragua y Venezuela, mientras arrecia la crisis de Covid-19
Ben Norton | thegrayzone.com | 2020-04-20
Human Rights Watch está orgullosamente asumiendo el crédito por sanciones devastadoras contra Nicaragua, mientras busca escalar la guerra económica en…
thegrayzone.com/2020/04/20/human-rights-watch-sanciones-nicaragua-venezuela/
How a Trump media dump mainstreamed Chinese lab coronavirus conspiracy theory
Max Blumenthal | thegrayzone.com | 2020-04-20
A conspiracy theory about Covid-19 escaping from the Wuhan Institute of Virology is the Trump administration's Iraqi WMD. And the…
thegrayzone.com/2020/04/20/trump-media-chinese-lab-coronavirus-conspiracy/
Fake Coronavirus Data, Fear Campaign. Spread of the COVID-19 Infection
Prof Michel Chossudovsky | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-20
Do not let yourself be misled by the fear campaign, pointing to a Worldwide coronavirus calamity with repeated "predictions" that hundreds of thousands of people are going to die. | According to the WHO, the death rate pertaining to Seasonal Influenza globally is between 6 to 12 times higher than COVID-19.
globalresearch.ca/fake-coronavirus-data-fear-campaign-spread-of-the-covid-19-infection/5708643
Fake Coronavirus Data, Fear Campaign. Spread of the COVID-19 Infection
Prof Michel Chossudovsky | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-20
Do not let yourself be misled by the fear campaign, pointing to a Worldwide coronavirus calamity with repeated "predictions" that hundreds of thousands of people are going to die. | According to the WHO, the death rate pertaining to Seasonal Influenza globally is between 6 to 12 times higher than COVID-19.
globalresearch.ca/fake-coronavirus-data-fear-campaign-spread-of-the-covid-19-infection/5708643
Colombia, the Oligarchs and Washington
Prof. Vijay Prashad | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-20
Last year, on November 21, the Colombian people took to the streets in massive numbers to reject the policies of the government led by President Iván Duque. In particular, the people called on the government to withdraw two policies….
globalresearch.ca/colombia-oligarchs-washington/5710186
Man Who Filmed Police Murder of Eric Garner Says Prison Guards Threatened to Give Him COVID-19
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-04-20
WeCopwatch, an activist organization dedicated to the nonviolent observation of police, says that corrections officers threatened to deliberately infect Ramsey Orta for weeks before he tested positive.
mintpressnews.com/ramsey-orta-says-prison-guards-deliberately-gave-him-covid-19/266782/
COVID-19 and the Wasting Disease of Normalcy
Brian Terrell | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-20
"But what of the price of peace?" asked Jesuit priest and war resister Daniel Berrigan, writing from federal prison in 1969, doing time for his part in the destruction of draft records.
counterpunch.org/2020/04/20/covid-19-and-the-wasting-disease-of-normalcy/
Selected Articles: A Universal Basic Income Is Essential and Will Work
Global Research News | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-20
A future without independent media leaves us with an upside down reality where according to the corporate media "NATO deserves a Nobel Peace Prize", and where "nuclear weapons and wars make us safer" | | | If, like us, this is a …
globalresearch.ca/selected-articles-universal-basic-income-essential-will-work/5710167
Pandemic and Protest
Ron Jacobs | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-20
It's not surprising that certain individuals and groups in US society are starting to publicly protest the ongoing quarantine measures undertaken because of the COVID-19 virus. From the several hundred (mostly) men who strapped on their guns and drove around the capital of Michigan to the Brooklyn Orthodox community members protesting the fact that they…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/20/pandemic-and-protest/
Protesters clog Buffalo, demanding Cuomo lift the lockdown in New York, worst hit by Covid-19 (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)
rt.com | 2020-04-20
A motorcade of protesters has jammed up Niagara Square in Buffalo, New York. The demonstrators want lockdown measures lifted in their corner of the Empire State, but their defiance has angered some citizens. | Sticking to their cars to maintain social distance, a crowd of protesters blocked the streets of central Buffalo on Monday, calling on Governor Andrew Cuomo to reopen the economy of New York State. While New York City has seen more than 130,000 cases of coronavirus and 10,000 deaths, Erie County, where Buffalo is located, has seen 2,200 cases and 143 fatalities. | Despite the discrepancy, Cuomo's stay-at…
rt.com/usa/486384-protest-cuomo-new-york/
Trump's Praise for Astroturf Protests Is a Divisive Reelection Strategy
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-20
President Trump's daily coronavirus briefing rallies aren't even attempting to be relevant to the ongoing pandemic anymore. To the extent it even comes up, it's entirely Trump bragging about anything that's gone right and blaming others for everything that's gone wrong. If you want to know the latest information about the emergency, you'll need to look elsewhere. These are Trump campaign rallies done for the strict purpose of energizing his base. | If you're reading this, you have probably read and…
truthout.org/articles/trumps-praise-for-astroturf-protests-is-a-divisive-reelection-strategy/
What Will You Do if They Try to Extend Coronavirus Lockdowns into Next Year?
Michael Snyder | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-20
We are seeing a massive backlash against the coronavirus lockdowns all over the United States, and it is likely that the protests against these lockdowns will only intensify in the days ahead. But some elected officials are doubling down and …
globalresearch.ca/what-will-you-do-if-they-try-extend-coronavirus-lockdowns-next-year/5710119
Anti-quarantine protesters inspired by Covid-19-denying former opera singer hurl stones, clash with police in Vladikavkaz
rt.com | 2020-04-20
A group of protesters neglected social distancing and surrounded the local government's office in Vladikavkaz in Russia's south. They demanded the coronavirus quarantine to be lifted and scuffled with the police. | Videos from the Svoboda (Freedom) Square in the capital of Russia's Republic of North Ossetia showed the demonstrators trying to break police cordons and tossing stones at officers in full riot gear. | The unsanctioned rally began at noon on Monday with a group of people gathering outside the administration, with only a few wearing face masks and staying very close to each other. They were quite…
rt.com/russia/486351-vladikavkaz-russia-coronavirus-lockdown-protest/
Massachusetts #FreeHer car protest demands the release of incarcerated women during COVID-19
Liberation Staff | liberationnews.org | 2020-04-20
COVID-19 is spreading in Massachusetts prisons and jails. As reported by WBUR, five incarcerated people have already died of the virus in Massachusetts, and over 150 cases of the virus have been confirmed among prisoners and prison staff.
liberationnews.org/massachusetts-freeher-car-protest-demands-the-release-of-incarcerated-women-during-covid-19/
Israelis condemn Netanyahu's anti-democratic COVID-19 measures
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-04-20
Scores of Israeli citizens gathered at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv on April 19, Sunday, to participate in a 'Black Flag' protest against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's measures in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Protesters claim these measures are anti-democratic and violate privacy. Protesters also opposed Netanyahu's continuing as prime minister. Negotiations between Netanyahu's Likud party and the main opposition
Experts Warn: Years of US Intervention Have Set the Stage for a Deadly Coronavirus Outbreak in Haiti
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-04-20
Since 2004, successive administrations have partnered with Washington to loot Haiti, stripping away its assets to the point of collapse and leaving it woefully unprepared to face the coming pandemic.
mintpressnews.com/us-intervention-haiti-set-stage-deadly-coronavirus-outbreak/266794/
Essential or Expendable? Gig Workers at Instacart & Grocery Stores Demand Safety Gear & Hazard Pay
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-20
Grocery stores are one of the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic, with store workers and gig economy shoppers often working without protection, as demand for groceries soars and millions of Americans stay home. "At first, when the adrenaline was still there, we were essential. We were prideful. And now, as we get more into it, that's wearing off, and it's seeming more like expendable," says Matthew Telles, a member of the Gig Workers Collective, who is a personal shopper who helped organize a strike by Instacart workers in March to demand the company implement appropriate safety measures and give them hazard…
www.democracynow.org/2020/4/20/matthew_telles_instacart_gig_workers
Handcuffed: Black Miami Doctor Who Works with Homeless Says He Was Racially Profiled by Police
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-20
We continue our conversation with Dr. Armen Henderson, an African-American doctor in Miami who was handcuffed outside his home while preparing for a volunteer shift to help protect homeless people from the spread of COVID-19. The encounter has sparked widespread outrage, and Miami's police chief has now tested positive for COVID-19 and is in self-isolation. Dr Henderson has taken a test himself and is waiting for results
One 'gruesome' trade is cashing in on the coronavirus pandemic
Tracy Keeling | thecanary.co | 2020-04-20
Many of the world's businesses and workers have taken a financial hit due to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Others are thriving, particularly those that provide life's essentials. | But one "gruesome" trade is cashing in on the crisis too. As the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has revealed, a trader in Vietnam is marketing 'glue' made from tigers as a way to "invest in health"
thecanary.co/discovery/analysis-discovery/2020/04/20/one-gruesome-trade-is-cashing-in-on-the-coronavirus-pandemic/
Sanders Won the War of Ideas
Erin McCarley | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-20
As Bernie Sanders and Barack Obama endorse Joe Biden, the final deathblow to the Bernie campaign is dealt. Beyond the sickening numbness I feel in my gut, there's a terribly familiar cynicism setting in, the kind of deep-rooted anger that at present, has no place to go. Once again, I feel almost naàØve for thinking…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/20/sanders-won-the-war-of-ideas/
And so, It's Biden
William Stroock | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-20
Last week the socialist pest from Vermont, Senator Bernie Sanders, formally endorsed former vice president Biden in an awkward livestream in which the two septuagenarians told one another how wonderful they are and how awful Trump is. As of …
globalresearch.ca/and-so-its-biden/5710188
A Patriot's Day Message
Chelli Stanley | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-20
For so long the world's governments and media lied on Palestine. That is one of the biggest understatements of the century. They held a mask in front of Palestine and projected images on it, so that Palestine was not seen at all. All that was seen were the lies of the ones trying to steal…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/20/a-patriots-day-message/
Trumpian Nationalists Have Met Their Match in COVID-19
Patrick Cockburn | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-20
President Trump is showing a disastrous inability during the coronavirus pandemic to shift from his well-tried tactics of claiming non-existent successes and blaming everybody for his blunders aside from himself. It is his first true crisis in his three years in the White House and, like that German general, he is visibly incapable of changing the way he deals with it.
counterpunch.org/2020/04/20/trumpian-nationalists-have-met-their-match-in-covid-19/
Corporate Media Cover for US Mob Threats Against Venezuela
Lucas Koerner | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-20
The Trump administration unveiled on March 31 a "democratic transition" plan to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from office, in favor of a "council of state" composed of both opposition and ruling party loyalists. | The plan was, however, less an …
globalresearch.ca/corporate-media-cover-us-mob-threats-against-venezuela/5710173
Techno-Tyranny: How The US National Security State Is Using Coronavirus To Fulfill An Orwellian Vision
Whitney Webb | thelastamericanvagabond.com | 2020-04-20
Last year, a government commission called for the US to adopt an AI-driven mass surveillance system far beyond that used in any other country in order to ensure American hegemony in artificial intelligence. Now, many of the "obstacles" they had cited as preventing its implementation are rapidly being removed under the guise of combating the …
thelastamericanvagabond.com/top-news/techno-tyranny-how-us-national-security-state-using-coronavirus-fulfill-orwellian-vision/
Russian and Venezuelan Presidents Hold Solidarity Phone Meeting
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-20
Venezuela and Russia agreed on Monday to consolidate their bilateral relations at a strategic level in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro held a telephone conversation with his Russian colleague, Vladimir Putin. | RELATED: | Bolsonaro Closes Brazil's Embassy and Consulates in Venezuela | Both leaders reiterated their condemnation of the imposition of coercive measures by the United States government against Venezuela. | The conversatio…
telesurenglish.net/news/Russian-and-Venezuelan-Presidents-Hold-Solidarity-Phone-Meeting-20200420-0007.html
'The US Reaction to Pressure to Ease Sanctions Was to Double Down' – CounterSpin interview with Joe Emersberger on sanctions under Covid-19
Janine Jackson | fair.org | 2020-04-20
"If there were an opposition movement in countries like Canada and the United States and Europe, the demand wouldn't just be, 'You gotta stop this'; the demand would actually be, 'Hey, we've got to prosecute the people involved with this. This is killing people. This is a crime. People should be facing legal consequences for this.'"
fair.org/home/the-us-reaction-to-pressure-to-ease-sanctions-was-to-double-down/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-us-reaction-to-pressure-to-ease-sanctions-was-to-double-down
Sweden Is Right. The Economy Should be Left Open
Mike Whitney | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-20
Sometimes, the best thing to do, is to do nothing at all. Take Sweden, for example, where the government decided not to shut down the economy, but to take a more thoughtful and balanced approach. Sweden has kept its primary …
globalresearch.ca/sweden-right-economy-should-left-open/5710128
COVID-19: A Diabolical US Anti-China Plot?
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-20
Is it coincidental that the first widely reported COVID-19 outbreak was in China. | It's unknown if the virus was natural or man-made, the latter very much possible, perhaps originating in a US bio-lab. | The US has a long disturbing history …
globalresearch.ca/covid-19-us-anti-china-plot/5710176
US/UK media promotes evergreen Russian boozing stereotypes, but latest data shows alcohol sales down during Covid-19 pandemic
rt.com | 2020-04-20
Western media is a funny beast. While demanding balanced and sensible coverage of their own state's internal affairs, stories about Russia seem to be treated as the follies of bonkers, backward people in a far-flung freakshow. | If all you knew about this country came from the likes of the Washington Post and the Guardian, you'd be forgiven for thinking Russian streets were teeming with balalaika-playing bears, AK-47-wielding communists, and KGB officers Cossack-dancing in the snow. By now, you'd have thought such caricatures would have gotten old, yet despite the current trend towards wokeness, lazy and hackn…
rt.com/russia/486379-russia-alcohol-sales-coronavirus/
'Armageddon': When Coronavirus Struck a Tehran Hospital
Saheb Sadeghi | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-20
It was like scenes from an Armageddon-like movie made in Hollywood instead of a real-world Tehran hospital, Hesam Khezri said, describing the state of Masih Daneshvari during the first days of the coronavirus outbreak in Iran. | "Looking down from the | …
globalresearch.ca/armageddon-coronavirus-struck-tehran-hospital/5710181
Will America Launch a War on Iraq?
Elijah J. Magnier | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-20
The US administration views Iraq as an arena for confrontation with Iran, with the aim of subjugating the country to its hegemony and dominance. The US imposes harsh sanctions on Iran and is trying to close the Iraqi market to …
globalresearch.ca/will-america-launch-war-iraq/5710134
The Pleasures of Eating Matzo
Cesar Chelala | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-20
When the good weather allows it, I get together with my friend Manny Greer and sit on the bench in front of our favorite coffee-house in Soho, Ground Support, whose owner, Steven, is a good friend of ours. Although he is much younger than we are (he is in his forties, Manny is 95-years-old and…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/20/the-pleasures-of-eating-matzo/
The Coronavirus Pandemic and Our Civilizational Crisis
Fran Shor | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-20
Although the coronavirus pandemic is not unique in its global reach, it, nevertheless, reminds us of the deficiencies inherent in the systems within which we operate. Indeed, all such infectious diseases exist in specific contexts that determine how lethal they will be and what will be the extent of our capacities for dealing with the…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/20/the-coronavirus-pandemic-and-our-civilizational-crisis/
In redwoods, tree sitting continues during pandemic
CP Editor | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-20
counterpunch.org/2020/04/20/in-redwoods-tree-sitting-continues-during-pandemic/
A Universal Basic Income is Essential and Will Work
Ellen Brown | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-20
According to an April 6 article on CNBC.com, Spain is slated to become the first country in Europe to introduce a universal basic income (UBI) on a long-term basis. Spain's Minister for Economic Affairs has announced plans to roll out a UBI "as soon as possible," with the goal of providing a nationwide basic wage…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/20/a-universal-basic-income-is-essential-and-will-work/
Covid-19 Exposes the Death Penalty's Selfishness
Stephen Cooper | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-20
Capital punishment has always been perverse, but during our country's struggle with the coronavirus, its selfishness sticks out like a sneeze, its sickly aerosols joining racism, classism, and festering immorality
Feinstein Urges Newsom to Negotiate with Trump over Increasing Water Exports to Agribusiness
Dan Bacher | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-20
On April 15, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein and Representatives Jim Costa, TJ Cox, John Garamendi, and Josh Harder sent a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom imploring him to reach an agreement with federal agencies through negotiation, rather than judicial action, on increasing water deliveries from the Delta to San Joaquin Valley corporate agribusiness interests. A coalition of…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/20/feinstein-urges-newsom-to-negotiate-with-trump-over-increasing-water-exports-to-agribusiness/
Trump Disrupts the Distinction Between Personal Loyalty & Constitutional Allegiance
Nick Licata | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-20
Donald Trump was elected president to disrupt our government and society; to drain the swamp. The specifics were vague, but the understanding was that someone had to change the "system". As Trump said at the 2016 Republican nominating convention in Cleveland, "Only I can fix it." And, he wants explicit loyalty to him from government…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/20/trump-disrupts-the-distinction-between-personal-loyalty-constitutional-allegiance/
Starving the Cities and States
Eve Ottenberg | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-20
Disaster capitalism is in high gear. The stock market plunged, so Trump, hysterical, whipped out the federal checkbook. The result? Unlimited bailouts of shoddily-run corporations, criminally managed banks and other assorted oligarchs with their hands out. But hey, it got the stock market soaring, because now investors know Washington will rescue them, whatever idiocies they commit. Everybody else is on their own.
counterpunch.org/2020/04/20/starving-the-cities-and-states/
"Donald J. Trump Ventilators"
Steve Klinger | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-20
Although it should have come as no surprise, Donald Trump's unprecedented decision to add his name to stimulus checks going out to millions of Americans under the CARE Act still has left jaws dropping across the beleaguered land, which is approaching 650,000 cases of the COVID-19 virus Trump predicted would soon be down to zero…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/20/donald-j-trump-ventilators/
How Ecuador Descended Into Corona Chaos
Guillaume Long | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-20
In the last few days and weeks, media outlets around the world have been publishing shocking stories and images of the COVID-19 crisis in Ecuador. Scenes of corpses abandoned in the streets of Guayaquil, Ecuador's second-largest city, have shaken audiences in Latin America and beyond. Statistics, even the highly untrustworthy official ones, have confirmed the dire picture of a fast accelerating crisis.
counterpunch.org/2020/04/20/how-ecuador-descended-into-corona-chaos/
The Fire Fauci Brigade
Binoy Kampmark | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-20
The intemperate volcano that is the US President has done much to burn its way through prominent appointments. As the title of former GOP strategist Rick Wilson's book goes, Everything Trump Touches Dies. There seem few more important individuals in the United States than Dr Anthony Fauci, and that, for the White House, is a…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/20/the-fire-fauci-brigade/
The Mountains Sing
Matthew Hoh | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-20
Bringing The Enemy's War Home; The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai I was born near New York City in 1973, the year the United States officially ended its war in Vietnam and brought home the last of its combat troops. The Vietnam War, known to the Vietnamese as The American War, was always something removed…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/20/the-mountains-sing/
The Next Coronavirus Bill Must Protect the 2020 Elections
Robert P. Alvarez | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-20
First, it was a public health crisis. Now, it's decimating the economy. And for it's next trick, the coronavirus is threatening to undermine the 2020 election. Unless, that is, Congress steps in to ensure we can vote by mail. If you're curious what the worst case scenario is, look no further than Wisconsin, where a…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/20/the-next-coronavirus-bill-must-protect-the-2020-elections/