"Faithless Electors" SCOTUS Case Tests If Electoral College Members Can Go Rogue
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-05-15
The Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday in a case that could shape the outcome of future presidential elections. The question at hand was whether Electoral College members can "go rogue" and support candidates who did not win the state's popular vote. In 2016, one of Colorado's nine electors, Michael Baca, attempted to cast his Electoral College ballot for Republican John Kasich instead of Democrat Hillary Clinton. The Colorado secretary of state at the time
'Time to APOLOGIZE!' Orban hits back at critics as he plans to hand back emergency Covid-19 powers that caused major spat with EU
rt.com | 2020-05-15
Hungarian PM Viktor Orban has said emergency laws granting his government the right to rule by decree during the Covid-19 crisis will be rescinded soon and those who accused him of using it as a power grab should "apologize. | Orban secured open-ended emergency powers from parliament at the end of March, angering the country's opposition and triggering a spat with Brussels. The move predictably ignited a fresh round of condemnation in Western media as the PM was accused of dismantling democracy and taking another step toward "authoritarianism." | Now, having announced that he expects parliament will be able to…
rt.com/news/488800-orban-covid-emergency-powers/
As US Reels From COVID-19, Trump Turns to Sanctions, War Making and Threats
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-05-15
The Trump admin has decisively chosen war over peace and conflict over cooperation. Yet it appears less able than ever to coerce the world into following its lead.
mintpressnews.com/us-reels-covid-19-trump-sanctions-war-threats/267592/
Study: Coronavirus Has a Been a Massive Boon for America's Billionaires
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-05-15
A new study found that in the past eight weeks alone, the country's super wealthy have added a further $368.8 billion to their already enormous fortunes.
mintpressnews.com/study-coronavirus-billionaires-wealth-jeff-bezos/267604/
Arabs, UN Must Move to Swiftly Protect the Status of Palestinian Refugees
Ramzy Baroud | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-15
'Heinous racism,' is how the Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor described a recent decision by Lebanese authorities to bar Palestinian refugee expats from returning to Lebanon. Lebanon's restrictions on its ever-diminishing population of Palestinian refugees is nothing new. However, this event is particularly alarming as it may be linked to a long-term official policy regarding…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/15/arabs-un-must-move-to-swiftly-protect-the-status-of-palestinian-refugees/
Massachusetts Contact Tracing Program Handed to Clinton-Linked NGO with Questionable Past
Raul Diego | mintpressnews.com | 2020-05-15
A new contact tracing program was recently unveiled in Massachusetts in partnership with Partners in Health, an NGO with links to US regime change operations, big pharma and the Clinton Foundation.
mintpressnews.com/massachusetts-contact-tracing-partners-in-health-clinton/267534/
Dark Winter? Honey Badger Trump Don't Care
Paul Street | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-15
"This coalition of the business elite, right-wing Christian evangelicals, and white nationalists and other white supremacists is very dangerous. Fascism is ultimately a death cult."
'The American friends': New court files expose Sheldon Adelson's security team in US spy operation against Julian Assange
Max Blumenthal | thegrayzone.com | 2020-05-15
An exclusive investigation by The Grayzone reveals new details on the critical role Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas Sands played in…
thegrayzone.com/2020/05/14/american-sheldon-adelsons-us-spy-julian-assange/
Jordan's king warns Israel of 'massive conflict' if it proceeds with West Bank annexation plans
rt.com | 2020-05-15
Jordan's King Abdullah II warned Israel of a "massive conflict" if it proceeds with plans to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank. | Israel has vowed to annex Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley. The move could spell the end of the long-stalled peace process by making it virtually impossible to establish a viable Palestinian state. | "Leaders who advocate a one-state solution do not understand what that would mean," Jordan's king said in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel. | European Union foreign ministers met on Friday to discuss what action the bloc might take in response to Israe…
rt.com/newsline/488812-jordan-israel-conflict-annexation/
500,000 Germans apply to take part in Stuttgart lockdown protest, but police RESTRICT rally to 5,000 due to 'social distancing'
rt.com | 2020-05-15
The city of Stuttgart has reluctantly agreed to let a demonstration go ahead on Saturday, ordering that masks be worn on public transport and people stay apart, after dissent over the lockdown swept across Germany last weekend. | Five thousand protesters are set to hit the streets of the southwestern city to protest Covid-19 restrictions. And that's only one percent of the half a million who applied to take part in the rally against Covid-19 prevention measures. | The local government has permitted only a limited number of protestors, and also requires them to maintain social distancing. Anyone caught travelin…
rt.com/news/488790-social-distancing-protesting-germany/
MI Legislature Cancels Work as "Reopen" Protesters Call for Whitmer's "Lynching"
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-05-15
The Michigan state legislature called off meetings scheduled to take place on Thursday as demonstrations were set to take place against Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's stay-at-home order. | According to state police, 200 individuals took part in a demonstration near the capitol building in Lansing against Whitmer's social distancing measures, which were put in place in order to stem the spread o…
truthout.org/articles/mi-legislature-cancels-work-as-reopen-protesters-call-for-whitmers-lynching/
COVID-19 Planning: Is It Time to Nationalize Big Pharma?
Michael Barker | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-15
Pharmaceutical corporations make billions providing drugs to help improve some people's lives, in much the same way that privately-run hospitals provide care to those who can afford to pay. But Big Pharma is not a caring industry. Big Pharma has done some truly despicable things over the past hundred years or so. This is why…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/15/covid-19-planning-is-it-time-to-nationalize-big-pharma/
US sailors return to coronavirus-hit aircraft carrier only to test positive AGAIN, despite months of containment efforts
rt.com | 2020-05-15
Five American sailors have tested positive for Covid-19 for a second time after resuming duty on board an aircraft carrier that saw a major outbreak in March, even after a full evacuation of its crew and months of deep cleaning. | Though the Navy imposed several layers of screenings before allowing sailors to re-board the ill-fated USS 'Theodore Roosevelt'
Trump says govt will work at 'WARP SPEED' to deliver vaccine BEFORE year's end
rt.com | 2020-05-15
President Donald Trump has promised to deliver a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year or earlier, saying that the government will invest in potential candidates. He added that, vaccine or no vaccine, America will reopen. | Speaking to reporters in the White House Rose Garden on Friday, Trump unveiled "Operation Warp Speed," a public-private partnership aimed at accelerating the development of a vaccine for Covid-19, the deadly virus that has infected more than 4.5 million people worldwide and killed more than 300,000. | "This is an endeavor unlike anything our country has seen since the Manhattan Project…
rt.com/usa/488811-trump-vacine-warp-speed/
Do the Most Severe Lockdowns Coincide to the Highest COVID-19 Death Rates?
Winslow Wheeler | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-15
The organization Our World in Data is running an article on the severity of government lockdown policies used to deal with the Covid-19 disease, "How Are Governments Responding to the Coronavirus Pandemic?". It is shows rankings of the severity ("stringency") on nine measures of lockdown policies throughout the world; it also addresses testing and tracking.
counterpunch.org/2020/05/15/do-the-most-severe-lockdowns-coincide-to-the-highest-covid-19-death-rates/
Why Capitalism Can't Cure Global Pandemics
Prabir Purkayastha | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-15
We frequently hear that COVID-19 is the worst pandemic since the influenza of 1918. It is forgotten that another pandemic known as "the third plague" (because it was "the third major bubonic plague outbreak to affect European society") killed millions from the 1890s to the 1950s in Asia's southern, southeastern, and eastern regions, continuing well…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/15/why-capitalism-cant-cure-global-pandemics/
Essential Sanitary Workers Strike for Hazard Pay and PPE in New Orleans
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-05-15
The severe outbreak of COVID-19 in southern Louisiana was the last straw for a group of sanitation workers who pick up trash in eastern New Orleans. Last week, they walked off the job and went on strike, demanding hazard pay and a $15 living wage. | Without "hoppers," as the workers are known, garbage would pile up on the streets and contribute to the spread of disease and other public health problems. However, the group of hoppers in New Orleans say their employers did not provide them with hazar…
truthout.org/articles/essential-sanitary-workers-strike-for-hazard-pay-and-ppe-in-new-orleans/
The Covid-19 Testing Fiasco
Eve Ottenberg | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-15
From the start, testing for Covid-19 in the U.S. has been abysmal. Experts agree that without adequate testing, the disease cannot be stopped. Poor testing means no idea how many are infected or how to trace and quarantine their contacts or how to prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. There has been speculation that the Trump…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/15/the-covid-19-testing-fiasco/
Define 'distribute'! Trump mobilizing MILITARY to deliver Covid-19 vaccine 'assuming we get it,' sparks conspiracy frenzy
rt.com | 2020-05-15
US President Donald Trump said the military is gearing up to distribute a coronavirus vaccine when one is ready, unleashing a torrent of takes from conspiracy-minded netizens, many sounding alarms over mandatory inoculations. | American GIs are already being mobilized to parcel out a future vaccine to "most of the population," Trump told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo in an interview on Thursday, giving a highly optimistic end-of-the-year time frame even as many experts suggest a remedy won't be ready for mass distribution for another 12 to 18 months. | "We're mobilizing our military on the basis that we do hav…
rt.com/usa/488691-trump-military-distribute-vaccine/
As Corporations Adapt to a COVID-19 Economy, the Working-Class Prepares for a Paradigm Shift
Raul Diego | mintpressnews.com | 2020-05-15
As social distancing measures persist across the country, corporations are setting in a "new normal" where most people are safely squirreled away in their homes, with paradigm-shifting implications for the working classes.
mintpressnews.com/corporations-adapt-covid-19-digitized-economy-working-class-paradigm-shift/267630/
Workingman's Blues (COVID 19 Version)
Ron Jacobs | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-15
I went back to work last week. Even though neither I most of my fellow workers are convinced library books are an essential service, the fact that we are once again loaning them out appeals to a certain pretense that they are. This is despite the fact that libraries–both public and academic–are often the first…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/15/workingmans-blues-covid-19-version/
First child dies in France from rare Kawasaki-like disease unwisely linked to Covid-19
rt.com | 2020-05-15
A nine-year-old boy in France has died from the mysterious Kawasaki-like disease, which some medics link to Covid-19. It's the first such case in that country, but similar child fatalities were earlier recorded in the US and UK. | The cause of the boy's death was "neurological injury related to a cardiac arrest," Fabrice Michel, head of the pediatric intensive care unit at La Timone hospital in Marseille, said. | The child was rushed to hospital with heart problems in early May. Doctors have been fighting for his life for a whole week, but the young patient passed away on Saturday. | While in hospital, the bo…
rt.com/news/488814-first-child-death-france-kawasaki/
MILLIONS of Americans dead from Covid-19? 85k jobs lost? What? Joe Biden commits gaffe after gaffe in confusing broadcast
rt.com | 2020-05-15
Joe Biden has once again caught flak for his creative and often confusing oratory, this time after the former VP and presumptive Democratic nominee struggled to relay how many Americans have died from coronavirus. | Speaking during a "virtual round table," Biden argued that playing the "blame game" during the ongoing health crisis would be counterproductive. But when it came time to relaying exactly what politicians might blame each other for, the presidential candidate faltered. | …
rt.com/usa/488756-biden-millions-covid-deaths-gaffe/
New Yorkers confused as Gov. Cuomo extends NY Pause and stay-at-home orders to seemingly contradictory dates
rt.com | 2020-05-15
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has extended the state's "NY Pause" economic shutdown until the end of May while stretching the stay-at-home order halfway into June, confusing residents already chafing under extended lockdown. | With both measures set to expire at midnight and five of the state's 10 economic regions entering the first phase of reopening, Cuomo poured cold water on any premature celebration by downstate residents on Friday, extending both Covid-19 executive orders by several weeks. | For those regions that haven't met the governor's stated criteria involving a decrease in hospital admissions, te…
rt.com/usa/488813-cuomo-ny-pause-lockdown-extended/
US Deports COVID-Positive Immigrants to Haiti and Guatemala, Spreading Virus
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-05-15
The United States continues to deport thousands during the coronavirus pandemic, causing a dangerous spread of COVID-19 to Central America and the Caribbean. We speak with Haitian American novelist Edwidge Danticat, who says "U.S. deportations to Haiti during coronavirus pandemic are 'unconscionable,'" and go to Guatemala City for an update from reporter José Alejandro García Escobar. | TRANSCRIPT: | This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form. | AMY GOODMAN: We turn now…
truthout.org/video/us-deports-covid-positive-immigrants-to-haiti-and-guatemala-spreading-virus/
Trump Unveils Plan That Would See Big Pharma Reap Massive Profits from COVID-19 Vaccine
Raul Diego | mintpressnews.com | 2020-05-15
President Trump has revealed a plan to mobilize the US military to deliver mass vaccinations across the country, coupled with Operation Warp Speed, a "Manhattan project-style" race to produce a COVID-19 vaccine.
mintpressnews.com/trump-plan-big-pharma-massive-profits-covid-19-vaccine/267617/
New Yorkers confused as Gov. Cuomo extends NY Pause and stay-at-home orders to seemingly contradictory dates
rt.com | 2020-05-15
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has extended the state's "NY Pause" economic shutdown until the end of May while stretching the stay-at-home order halfway into June, confusing residents already chafing under extended lockdown. | With both measures set to expire at midnight and five of the state's 10 economic regions entering the first phase of reopening, Cuomo poured cold water on any premature celebration by downstate residents on Friday, extending both Covid-19 executive orders by several weeks. | For those regions that haven't met the governor's stated criteria involving a decrease in hospital admissions, te…
rt.com/usa/488813-cuomo-ny-pause-lockdown-extended/
Trump says govt will work at 'WARP SPEED' to deliver vaccine BEFORE year's end
rt.com | 2020-05-15
President Donald Trump has promised to deliver a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year or earlier, saying that the government will invest in potential candidates. He added that, vaccine or no vaccine, America will reopen. | Speaking to reporters in the White House Rose Garden on Friday, Trump unveiled "Operation Warp Speed," a public-private partnership aimed at accelerating the development of a vaccine for Covid-19, the deadly virus that has infected more than 4.5 million people worldwide and killed more than 300,000. | "This is an endeavor unlike anything our country has seen since the Manhattan Project…
rt.com/usa/488811-trump-vacine-warp-speed/
Jailing people who use Covid-19 as bioweapon would be 'discrimination.' So better lock up everyone instead?
rt.com | 2020-05-15
Accidentally spreading Covid-19 is wanting grandma dead, say opponents of ending lockdowns. Yet activists now worry that proposed laws to punish those who threaten to spread it deliberately would discriminate against minorities. | A Florida man spat and coughed on a police officer responding to a domestic violence call, and faces up to five years in prison on a federal charge of biological weapons hoax (he was negative for Covid-19). Another man in Texas, who falsely claimed on Facebook that he paid someone to spread the virus at local grocery stores, was charged with the same thing. A Michigan man who wiped h…
rt.com/usa/488692-criminalizing-covid-discrimination-minorities/
Roaming Charges: Unmasked and Anonymous
Jeffrey St. Clair | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-15
I'm hyped for some ObamaGate action, as long as its about things that matter: health care plan designed by Heritage Foundation, bailing out Wall Street, failing to close Gitmo, droning US citizens, Afghan surge, the jailing of whistleblowers and legal harassment of journalists, the Libyan and Honduran coups, mass surveillance, the funding and arming of proxy wars in Yemen and Syria, record deportations, Deepwater Horizon, new nukes (both power plants and weapons), etc…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/15/roaming-charges-unmasked-and-anonymous/
'We were totally helpless': Russian woman jailed for SLAPPING 'abusive' Californian husband, mother tells RT
rt.com | 2020-05-15
What looked like an intercontinental fairytale romance turned into a story of domestic violence, when a Russian woman was arrested for slapping the American husband her mother says abused her. | When she married a Californian man last year, 30-year-old Krasnodar native Alina Alipatova couldn't have imagined that the line between romance and fear could be crossed so fast. She met her future husband while holidaying in Miami and quickly fell in "big love" with him, the woman's mother, Elena Gertsog, told RT this week. | Once engaged, the happy couple spent two months at the Californian's house in San Luis Obispo…
rt.com/russia/488726-russian-woman-abused-us/
Nord Stream 2 to challenge German regulator's decision denying waiver of 'discriminatory' EU rules for gas pipeline from Russia
rt.com | 2020-05-15
The company building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline has vowed to appeal Germany's refusal to remove the multibillion-dollar project from the restrictions laid out in the "discriminatory" EU Gas Directive. | The latest amendment to the EU rules was greenlighted in April last year, long after Nord Stream 2 construction began. The legislature made the rules governing the European gas market apply to all pipelines to and from third countries. The new rule means Russia's Gazprom, which designed the project, will be allowed to use not more than 50 percent of the pipeline capacity while allowing third parties to use…
rt.com/business/488738-germany-denies-waiver-nord-stream/
Head of the Hydra: The Rise of Robert Kadlec
Raul Diego | mintpressnews.com | 2020-05-15
WASHINGTON DC ( The Last American Vagabond)
'Disturbing': Messi freaks out fans with sloppy music video kiss with wife Antonela Roccuzzo (VIDEO)
rt.com | 2020-05-15
Lionel Messi can curl in free-kicks from 30 yards but his kissing skills leave a lot to be desired, if the reaction to a clumsy viral smooch with wife Antonela Roccuzzo is anything to go by. | Messi and partner Roccuzzo were filmed locking lips for the latest video by Puerto Rican rapper Residente. | The track – titled 'Before the World Ends' – features couples canoodling all around the world, including famous faces such as Hollywood star Ben Affleck and actress partner Ana de Armas, and Mexican boxer Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez and his beau Fernanda Gómez. | But it's the appearance of six-time Ballon d'Or wi…
rt.com/sport/488796-messi-kiss-wife-antonella-music-video-residente/
Trump salutes his 'keyboard warriors,' but has he actually curtailed corporate online censorship?
rt.com | 2020-05-15
President Donald Trump has paid his respects to the legions of online meme-makers and "keyboard warriors" who helped him get elected. But among these netizens, many feel the president hasn't done enough to fight online censorship. | "Thank you to all of my great Keyboard Warriors," Trump tweeted on Friday. "You are better, and far more brilliant, than anyone on Madison Avenue (Ad Agencies). There is nobody like you!" | Thank you to all of my great Keyboard Warriors. You are better, and far more brilliant, than anyone on Madison Avenue (Ad Agencies). There is nobody like you!– Donald J. Trump (@realDonald…
rt.com/usa/488798-trump-keyboard-warriors-censorship/
Trump salutes his 'keyboard warriors,' but has he actually curtailed corporate online censorship?
rt.com | 2020-05-15
President Donald Trump has paid his respects to the legions of online meme-makers and "keyboard warriors" who helped him get elected. But among these netizens, many feel the president hasn't done enough to fight online censorship. | "Thank you to all of my great Keyboard Warriors," Trump tweeted on Friday. "You are better, and far more brilliant, than anyone on Madison Avenue (Ad Agencies). There is nobody like you!" | Thank you to all of my great Keyboard Warriors. You are better, and far more brilliant, than anyone on Madison Avenue (Ad Agencies). There is nobody like you!– Donald J. Trump (@realDonald…
rt.com/usa/488798-trump-keyboard-warriors-censorship/
Corruption and the Pandemic Bailout
Dean Baker | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-15
Neil Irwin had an interesting New York Times piece on how concerns about moral hazard in the bailout may damage the recovery. The gist of the article is that the fear that bad actors will be wrongly rewarded will prevent us from spending enough money to get the economy back on its feet. Irwin's point…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/15/corruption-and-the-pandemic-bailout/
Musk's swarm of Starlink microsatellites to light up UK skies this weekend
rt.com | 2020-05-15
Elon Musk's artificial constellation of Starlink microsatellites will stream across the night skies above the UK twice this weekend, providing some fodder for amatuer astronomers but some frustration for the pros. | Musk's SpaceX designed the fleet of microsats to provide cheap broadband internet to neglected areas of the globe. | While this is a noble goal, the swarm of microsatellites has divided the astronomy community: amateurs have added them to the list of casual targets for a night of stargazing while professionals and researchers bemoan the additional light pollution, lampooning Musk for 'destroying' t…
rt.com/uk/488744-starlink-satellites-uk-skies/
War and Plagues: Military Spending During a Pandemic
Conn Hallinan | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-15
Welcome to the world of the hypersonic weapons, devices that are not only superfluous, but which will almost certainly not work, They will, however, cost enormous amounts of money. At a time when countries across the globe are facing economic chaos, financial deficits and unemployment at Great Depression levels, arms manufacturers are set to cash in big.
counterpunch.org/2020/05/15/war-and-plagues-military-spending-during-a-pandemic/
How Economic Misery Helped Fuel the Syrian War
Louis Proyect | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-15
Ever since the civil war began in Syria in early 2011, the left has largely ignored the social and economic circumstances that led to a conflict costing over a half-million deaths and the migration–internal and external–of half the population. The tendency was to see Syria as a piece on a global chessboard with…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/15/how-economic-misery-helped-fuel-the-syrian-war/
My Birth Control Experience Is Why I'm Fighting to Ensure Access for Everyone
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-05-15
The issue of birth control is particularly important to me as a woman of color from an immigrant community in Pennsylvania. Beyond my own experience, I also understand the difficulties other marginalized communities face in obtaining this essential health care. | The first time I sought birth control, the provider lectured me based on stereotypes she had of people from my "culture." She also insisted repeatedly that I choose a birth control method which I was not comfortable with because it w…
truthout.org/articles/my-birth-control-experience-is-why-im-fighting-to-ensure-access-for-everyone/
For Cuba and Venezuela, US Silence May Not Be Golden
W. T. Whitney | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-15
The U. S. President and his Secretary of State frequently expound about the supposed failings of enemies abroad. Recently they've blasted China's response to the pandemic, Venezuela's dictatorship, Cuba's "slave doctors" overseas, and even Iranian border guards beating up on Afghan migrants. But they've been mostly silent about two recent disruptions of the imperialist status…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/15/for-cuba-and-venezuela-us-silence-may-not-be-golden/
Rearranging Desires Amidst Climate Catastrophe, COVID Chaos, and Capitalist Calamity
Nick Pemberton | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-15
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak states that her political goal is to rearrange desires. No goal is more pertinent to our present trying time. As Chuck Mertz refrains "the future ain't what it used to be." The coronavirus has exposed much of what we knew to be true, but counted on avoiding. What has become plain as…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/15/rearranging-desires-amidst-climate-catastrophe-covid-chaos-and-capitalist-calamity/
Socialism and Collective Responses: Attacking Venezuela in a Pandemic
Macdonald Stainsby | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-15
That feeling of international solidarity. This pandemic has brought terror in daily life to many, including this home where a 79 year old with COPD resides. Global calls of "we are all in this together" have served to blunt the bleakness in the face of unprecedented threats to our collective health. However, the initial rush…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/15/socialism-and-collective-responses-attacking-venezuela-in-a-pandemic/
Can We Simultaneously Oppose Bayer/Monsanto's Biotechnology and Support Cuba's Interferon Alpha 2B?
Don Fitz | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-15
Genetically engineered crops are a form of food imperialism. This technology allows mega-corporations like Bayer/Monsanto to patent seeds, lure farmers into buying them with visions of high yields, and then destroy the ability of small farmers to survive. Genetic engineering produces an artificial combination of plant traits which often results in foods with less nutritional…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/15/can-we-simultaneously-oppose-bayer-monsantos-biotechnology-and-support-cubas-interferon-alpha-2b/
Democrats' Relief Bill Would Let Lobbying Giants Access Small Business Aid
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-05-15
House Democrats' newest coronavirus relief proposal would allow influential Washington lobbying groups
USPS Reportedly Considering Price Hikes as Trump's Takeover Accelerates
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-05-15
With the leadership of the U.S. Postal Service soon to be completely under the control of President Donald Trump's appointees, the agency has reportedly launched a review of its package prices and bulk delivery contracts as it faces the possibility of imminent collapse due in large part to the coronavirus crisis. | According to the Washington Post, USPS has in recent weeks "sought bids from consult…
truthout.org/articles/usps-reportedly-considering-price-hikes-as-trumps-takeover-accelerates/
Brazilian Health Minister Teich resigns after just weeks in job
rt.com | 2020-05-15
Brazilian Health Minister Nelson Teich resigned on Friday after just weeks in the job. President Jair Bolsonaro had criticized Teich as being too timid in the push to reopen the economy and to advocate the use of anti-malarial drugs. | Military members of the Brazilian cabinet are pushing for deputy health minister Eduardo Pazuello, an army general on active duty, to become the new health minister, making permanent his interim role, Reuters reported, citing a government source. | Teich is the second health minister to resign amid the pandemic in Brazil. He replaced Nelson Mandetta, who was fired on April 16 fo…
rt.com/newsline/488802-brazilian-minister-resigns-bolsonaro/
Czech Republic to allow gatherings of up to 300 people
rt.com | 2020-05-15
The Czech Republic will take major steps to relax its coronavirus lockdown measures from May 25, as the government seeks to jump-start the economy, health officials said on Friday. | The central European country of 10.7 million people has reported fewer than 100 new cases a day throughout May. As of Friday morning, it had recorded a total of 8,352 cases of which 5,249 have recovered. It has reported 293 deaths, Reuters said. | Indoor dining and hotel stays could resume on May 25 under strict hygiene rules, Health Minister Adam Vojtech said. "After May 25, there won't be establishments in retail which would be…
rt.com/newsline/488794-czech-gatherings-hundreds-people/
The Fed Hasn't Spent a Dime Yet for Main Street Versus $735 Billion for Wall Street
Pam Martens, Russ Martens | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-15
The stimulus bill known as the CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act) was signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 27. Among its many features (such as direct checks to struggling Americans and enhancing unemployment compensation by $600 per week for four months to unemployed workers so they could pay…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/15/the-fed-hasnt-spent-a-dime-yet-for-main-street-versus-735-billion-for-wall-street/