ahtribune (2020-05-15). COVID-19 Lockdown Is Liberalism Last Hurrah. ahtribune.com Ode of a Liberal | They passed the USA PATRIOT Act—and I did nothing because I am a patriot. | They passed the USA Freedom Act—and I believe in freedom. | They nominated Hillary Clinton—and I voted for the lesser evil. | They declared medical marshal law—and I didn't want to kill grandma. | They said to wear a facemask—and I passively obeyed. | I believe in Joe Biden—because I am a liberal. | In 2010 Chris Hedges declared the liberal class as dead as a doornail. He was late. Liberalism had died decades earlier. All that remains is the separate components of the body of liberalism. The stinking comp…

Alan Macleod (2020-05-15). As US Reels From COVID-19, Trump Turns to Sanctions, War Making and Threats. mintpressnews.com 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.

Alan Macleod (2020-05-15). Study: Coronavirus Has a Been a Massive Boon for America's Billionaires. mintpressnews.com 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.

Max Blumenthal (2020-05-15). 'The American friends': New court files expose Sheldon Adelson's security team in US spy operation against Julian Assange. thegrayzone.com An exclusive investigation by The Grayzone reveals new details on the critical role Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas Sands played in…

RT (2020-05-15). 'It would be best if intra-Afghan talks began while US still has significant military presence' — envoy. rt.com The United States has heard positive reports about the formation of an inclusive Afghan government, US Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad said on Friday, adding that a new date for intra-Afghan peace talks is under discussion. | Speaking to reporters on a conference call, Khalilzad said it would be best if intra-Afghan talks began while there is still a significant US military presence in Afghanistan, Reuters reported. | The pace of prisoner releases and disagreements over the Afghan government's composition have both helped delay intra-Afghan talks, which were to begin on March 10 under a February 29 US-…

Paul Street (2020-05-15). Dark Winter? Honey Badger Trump Don't Care. counterpunch.org "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." — Jason Stanley , May 11, 2020 From the Annals of "The Most Dangerous Criminal in Human History" Despite timely alerts given by senior public health experts and warnings from

Staff (2020-05-15). "Faithless Electors" SCOTUS Case Tests If Electoral College Members Can Go Rogue. truthout.org 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 — a Republican —…

W. T. Whitney (2020-05-15). For Cuba and Venezuela, US Silence May Not Be Golden. counterpunch.org 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

RT (2020-05-15). Brazilian Health Minister Teich resigns after just weeks in job. rt.com 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…

ahtribune (2020-05-15). Iran Is Not A Victim, It Is One of The Most Influential and Strong-Minded Nations on Earth. ahtribune.com When facing mortal danger, its people unite, harden themselves and get ready to face invaders, no matter how threatening they might be. | Iran is home to one of the oldest and deepest cultures in the world, and it's precisely this culture that helps Iranian people to survive the most frightening moments. | And one such moment is sadly, right now. | *** | US battleships are sailing right next to the Iranian territorial waters. One mistake, one false move, and war could erupt, engulfing the entire region in flames. Iran is a proud nation, and it takes its independence extremely seriously. | Right now, the countr…

Raul Diego (2020-05-15). Massachusetts Contact Tracing Program Handed to Clinton-Linked NGO with Questionable Past. mintpressnews.com 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.

RT (2020-05-15). Jordan's king warns Israel of 'massive conflict' if it proceeds with West Bank annexation plans. rt.com 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…

ahtribune (2020-05-15). US-Backed Militants Steal a Bank of the Syrian State in Hasakah City then Hand It to US Forces. ahtribune.com Armed groups of the US-backed "Syrian Democratic Forces" have stolen the Syrian Commercial Bank located within the security square of the Syrian state in Hasakah city. | Local sources from Hasaka said that during daylight hours, a large number of "SDF" militants attacked the bank and took control of the entire building after expelling the guards and employees from it and stealing the money and contents there. | The sources pointed out that after controlling the bank, the militants broke the iron fences and the walls surrounding it, then they stole its contents and transferred them to their centers before they…

Louis Proyect (2020-05-15). How Economic Misery Helped Fuel the Syrian War. counterpunch.org 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 "the axis

RT (2020-05-15). 'Disturbing': Messi freaks out fans with sloppy music video kiss with wife Antonela Roccuzzo (VIDEO). rt.com 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 (2020-05-15). 'We were totally helpless': Russian woman jailed for SLAPPING 'abusive' Californian husband, mother tells RT. rt.com 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 (2020-05-15). '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 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 (2020-05-15). Musk's swarm of Starlink microsatellites to light up UK skies this weekend. rt.com 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…

Conn Hallinan (2020-05-15). War and Plagues: Military Spending During a Pandemic. counterpunch.org 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.

ahtribune (2020-05-15). Venezuela Shows World Under No Less Threat of War After Donald Trump's First Term. ahtribune.com When Donald Trump ran for president in the 2016 election, his criticisms of regime change presented a real opportunity for anti-war voices and organizations to demand an end to U.S. regime change wars abroad. That did not happen. In fact, the Trump administration has become even more bellicose amid the spread of the

Tony McKenna (2020-05-15). El Diego: the Two Lives of Maradona. counterpunch.org 22 June 1986. A world cup quarter-final is about to play out in the Estadio Azteca stadium at the heart of Mexico City. Under the billowing blue skies and the streaming sunlight the pitch is shadowless and pastel green. The teams line up. The English in white. The Argentinians in blue. As the Argentine anthem plays, the camera moves across the team, before lingering momentarily on the solemn, stormy features of the captain — a small, squat man, a head shorter than his teammates, his dark, handsome features shadowed with determination. Diego. Armando. Maradona. Despite the blue, open vistas of the sky and th…

RT (2020-05-15). Trump says govt will work at 'WARP SPEED' to deliver vaccine BEFORE year's end. rt.com 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 (2020-05-15). Trump salutes his 'keyboard warriors,' but has he actually curtailed corporate online censorship? rt.com 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…

Ariel Gold (2020-05-15). My Israeli Nemesis is Moving to America. counterpunch.org My first run-in with Israeli politician Gilad Erdan took place on July 1, 2018, when I arrived at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, passport and visa in hand. After seven hours of interrogation, I was told that Erdan had had my visa revoked and was sending me directly back to the U.S. "We prevented

Dean Baker (2020-05-15). Corruption and the Pandemic Bailout. counterpunch.org 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

Patricio Zamorano (2020-05-15). Guaidó and the Failed Military Operation Against Venezuela: a Story of Betrayal and Financial Corruption. counterpunch.org Now that we have had a few days to study the failed, illegal paramilitary incursion by a group of American and Venezuelan mercenaries into Venezuela, some key details have emerged in this incredible story. They reveal the internal dynamics of the fractured, demoralized, and financially corrupt nature of the hardline sectors of the opposition. Much

RT (2020-05-15). Germany in recession with economy in worst plunge since global financial crisis. rt.com Germany's economy shrank by 2.2 percent in the first quarter compared to the final three months of 2019, preliminary official statistics have shown. It's the biggest slump in a decade for Europe's largest economy. | Figures for the final three months of 2019 were revised to show a contraction of 0.1 percent, which means German GDP growth has been negative for two consecutive quarters, the technical definition of a recession. | The numbers are expected to get worse; Germany's Statistical Office has forecast a ten percent plunge in GDP for the second quarter, depending on the success of lifting lockdown measures…

RT (2020-05-15). Czech Republic to allow gatherings of up to 300 people. rt.com 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…

Winslow Wheeler (2020-05-15). Do the Most Severe Lockdowns Coincide to the Highest COVID-19 Death Rates? counterpunch.org 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.

RT (2020-05-15). New Yorkers confused as Gov. Cuomo extends NY Pause and stay-at-home orders to seemingly contradictory dates. rt.com 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 (2020-05-15). 500,000 Germans apply to take part in Stuttgart lockdown protest, but police RESTRICT rally to 5,000 due to 'social distancing'. rt.com 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 (2020-05-15). MILLIONS of Americans dead from Covid-19? 85k jobs lost? What? Joe Biden commits gaffe after gaffe in confusing broadcast. rt.com 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. | "We're in the middle of a pandemic that has cost us more than 85,000 jobs as of today. Lives of millions of people, millions of pe…

RT (2020-05-15). US sailors return to coronavirus-hit aircraft carrier only to test positive AGAIN, despite months of containment efforts. rt.com 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' — where more than 1,000 personnel contracted the virus in March — the five seamen nonetheless tested positive again after returning to the ship, the military confirmed on Thursday. | "Five ['Theodore Roosevelt'] sailors who previously tested Covid…

Pam Martens, Russ Martens (2020-05-15). The Fed Hasn't Spent a Dime Yet for Main Street Versus $735 Billion for Wall Street. counterpunch.org 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

Eve Ottenberg (2020-05-15). The Covid-19 Testing Fiasco. counterpunch.org 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

RT (2020-05-15). Define 'distribute'! Trump mobilizing MILITARY to deliver Covid-19 vaccine 'assuming we get it,' sparks conspiracy frenzy. rt.com 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…

Michael Barker (2020-05-15). COVID-19 Planning: Is It Time to Nationalize Big Pharma? counterpunch.org 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

RT (2020-05-15). Nord Stream 2 to challenge German regulator's decision denying waiver of 'discriminatory' EU rules for gas pipeline from Russia. rt.com 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…

ahtribune (2020-05-15). The American Genie — Engineering a Catastrophe. ahtribune.com The first signs that something terrible had gone wrong with the security at the Fort Detrick bio-defence facility fifty miles north-west of Washington DC were when cases of a previously unknown and serious

RT (2020-05-15). First child dies in France from rare Kawasaki-like disease unwisely linked to Covid-19. rt.com 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…

Ron Jacobs (2020-05-15). Workingman's Blues (COVID 19 Version). counterpunch.org 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

Manuel García, Jr. (2020-05-15). End Game for Green Utopia. counterpunch.org On these two opposing types of responses to the movie "Planet Of The Humans": PRO: "The key, however, is that all these ['greenish'] energy policies have to be carried out after capitalism has been wiped out and under conditions where production is based strictly on use." CON: "This documentary is trashy fake news. It's Trumpian

Mateo Pimentel (2020-05-15). Not Liberty, Happiness. counterpunch.org In 1863, John Stuart Mill posited the utilitarian principle as the foundation of ethics. Even today this lets us weigh actions morally: the more happiness an action promotes, the more upright it is. But if this simple calculus allows us to determine the greatest good for the greatest number of people, then how do we

RT (2020-05-15). Jailing people who use Covid-19 as bioweapon would be 'discrimination.' So better lock up everyone instead? rt.com 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…

Jeffrey St. Clair (2020-05-15). Roaming Charges: Unmasked and Anonymous. counterpunch.org 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…

RT (2020-05-15). Quarantined & lonely? Find a 'SEX BUDDY,' Dutch government advises. rt.com Dutch authorities have decided that sex is a necessity, even in times of lockdown. Ever the pragmatists, they suggest that quarantined singletons "make arrangements" with a willing partner. | With more than 43,000 people infected with the coronavirus and a death toll of 5,600, the Netherlands has been on lockdown since late March. Citizens are allowed to have up to three visitors in their homes, provided they keep a distance of 1.5 meters from each other. Naturally, this precludes most sexual activity. | However, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) has admitted that two se…

Ramzy Baroud (2020-05-15). Arabs, UN Must Move to Swiftly Protect the Status of Palestinian Refugees. counterpunch.org '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

Staff (2020-05-15). MI Legislature Cancels Work as "Reopen" Protesters Call for Whitmer's "Lynching" truthout.org 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,

Raul Diego (2020-05-15). Trump Unveils Plan That Would See Big Pharma Reap Massive Profits from COVID-19 Vaccine. mintpressnews.com 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.

Raul Diego (2020-05-15). Head of the Hydra: The Rise of Robert Kadlec. mintpressnews.com WASHINGTON DC (