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MAY 1 THROUGH 11

MAY 11, 2020

We'll Fight This': Groups Outraged Over DeVos 'Gutting' Title IX Protections for Survivors of Sexual Violence. ... "We refuse to go back to the days when rape and harassment in schools were ignored and swept under the rug." CommonDreams

Navajo nation reels under weight of coronavirus -- and history of broken promises. ... The Native American tribe has the highest per-capita infection rate after New York and New Jersey but has a fraction of the resources. Guardian

Pelosi Support for Corporate Lobbyist Bailout Denounced as 'Dumbest Political Maneuver You Could Possibly Make Right Now' ... "Pelosi has run the House of Representatives by fiat for close to two months, and there hasn't been a single word of protest as she locks every other member of the Democratic caucus out of policymaking." CommonDreams

More Information Wars ... I am subject to a very peculiar hidden censorship by Twitter, Craig Murray Related: A Very Political Prosecution. Craig Murray

The Bailout Miscalculation That Could Crash the Economy. ... A plan to help homeowners avoid foreclosure was good, in principle. In practice, it’s pushed the mortgage business toward yet another potential nightmare. Taibbi

Shoshana Walter: America’s Drug Rehab Gulag Provides Free Labor for Corporations. ... In a groundbreaking series, the journalist reveals the work camps operating all over the country under the guise of rehab centers. Scheer Post

Revealed: Amazon told workers paid sick leave law doesn't cover warehouses. Guardian

We created the Anthropocene, and the Anthropocene is biting back. ... It’s clear from a recent litany of disasters -- from the coronavirus pandemic to America’s deadliest wildfire in a century – there are forces that cannot be domesticated. Guardian

'Promiscuous treatment of nature' will lead to more pandemics -- scientists. ... Habitat destruction forces wildlife into human environments, where new diseases flourish. Guardian

New Jersey’s Cartoonishly Corrupt Democratic Party Is Finally Getting Challenged. Intercept

Far Right Group Behind Boston’s “Straight Pride” Also Organized “Reopen” Protest. TruthOut

On VE Day, French Colonists Launched a Massacre in Algeria. Jacobin

MAY 11, 2020 - COVID-19 NEWS
Nature Bats Last

U.S. Turned Down Offer To Manufacture Millions Of N95 Masks As Coronavirus Spread. ... After the first COVID-19 case was detected in January, a company offered to make millions of N95 masks. A federal agency said no. HuffPost

Irish support for Native American Covid-19 relief highlights historic bond. ... GoFundMe page for Navajo and Hopi aid lists many Irish names. ... Choctaw Nation sent donation in 1847 for potato famine victims. Guardian

Gov. Hogan’s Purchase of Korean Covid Tests Looks Like a PR stunt -- and Media Fell for It. FAIR

South Dakota governor threatens Native American tribes with legal action if they do not remove coronavirus checkpoints. ... Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe receive letters from Governor Kristi Noem for travel checkpoints. Independent

Whistleblower Details How Trump’s Bureaucrats Refused to Secure N95 Masks as Pandemic Loomed. Intercept

Under Cover of Mass Death, Andrew Cuomo Calls in the Billionaires to Build a High-Tech Dystopia. ... Big tech’s emerging pandemic shock doctrine demands heavy public subsidies for a no-touch, socially distanced coronavirus future. Intercept

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WEEKEND OF MAY 8-10, 2020

Weekend Read: Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic. By David Quammen - Examines the emergence and causes of new diseases all over the world, describing a process called “spillover” where illness originates in wild animals before being passed to humans and discusses the potential for the next huge pandemic. Indie Bound  Author interview - David Quammen has tracked the spillover of viruses from animals to humans for more than a decade. To avoid future pandemics, he says, we must rethink our relationship with nature and recognize how our choices can lead to dangerous disruptions of the natural world. Yale University

Cult expert Steven Hassan: Trump's "mind control cult" now faces an existential crisis. ... Author of "The Cult of Trump" explains how the president has trained his followers to believe no one but him. Salon

Trump trying to decide if he wants fries
with doomsday - by Mr Fish

Civil Liberty Vanishes. ... The sinister potential of coronavirus lockdown to suppress dissent was on display on Monday as police broke up a small group of protestors outside Westminster Crown Court during a case management hearing for Julian Assange. Craig Murray

Dr. Rick Bright's Whistleblower Complaint Documents All Camp Runamuck's Mal- and Non-Feasance. Esquire

Judge reinstates New York's presidential primary after state canceled it. ... Critics had said decision to call off presidential primary amounted to voter suppression, and could alienate Sanders supporters. Guardian

Chris Hedges speaking about the type of treatment Julian Assange can expect if extradited to the US: "They will attempt to psychologically destroy him" Twitter Video

EASY MONEY

Win Or Lose, Trump’s Top Campaign Aides Are Raking In The Cash. ... His campaign chief bought a waterfront house with a yearly tax bill higher than the average Floridian’s annual income, a $400,000 boat, a Ferrari, condos and more. HuffPost

Explosive Whistleblower Complaint by Ousted HHS Official Says He Was Pressured to Give Contract to Trump-Friendly Pharma Firm. CommonDreams

Profiting from the Pandemic: Will Pharmaceutical Giants Use Patents to Limit Access to COVID Drugs? DemocracyNow

'Outrageous': Major US Companies Hand Shareholders Hundreds of Millions in Dividends While Slashing Thousands of Jobs. ... "Instead of spending hundreds of millions of dollars on dividends to enrich wealthy shareholders," said Sen. Bernie Sanders, these "corporations should be using this money to compensate the thousands of workers they laid off.". CommonDreams

Gottheimer Backs Bailout Plan Pushed by His Private Equity Donors . ... In statements to the press and congressional letters, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) is backing a plan from one of his top private equity donors to expand a Federal Reserve bailout program. Sludge

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Trump loyalist set to become national intelligence director on second attempt. ... John Ratcliffe was forced to withdraw his nomination for the same post nine months ago for exaggerating his security experience. Guardian

Beware! Cuomo Adds Another Billionaire to "Reimagine" Post-Pandemic Public Education. ... The pandemic is turning into a grand opportunity for the foxes to raid the henhouse under cover of darkness. CommonDreams

The Washington Post’s Neocons are Beating Cold War Drums…Again. CounterPunch

Maj. Danny: America’s Libyan Detritus: The One Time Trump Was Right – It Was All Obama’s Fault. ... Nine years on – and one pandemic later – the Libyan 'shit show,' has gone full mercenary … and few notice. Scheer Post

Anatomy of a fake news campaign: Media spreads lie from US govt-funded Korean outlet that Kim Jong-un died. ... Corporate media outlets spread fake news claiming North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had died. The lie originated with a Seoul-based website funded by the US government’s regime-change arm the NED. Gray Zone

Chris Hedges on Biden vs. Trump, Bernie Sanders, Corporate Media, Assange & State of the Left. YouTube

The Coming New World Disorder. CounterPunch

WEEKEND OF MAY 8-10, 2020
COVID-19 NEWS - NATURE BATS LAST

Trump's advisers released a 'beyond stupid' mathematical model of coronavirus deaths created in Excel by a controversial economist. Business Insider

Body Bags Instead of Requested Covid-19 Testing Kits for Native American Clinic Seen as Cruel Metaphor. ... "Are we going to keep getting body bags or are we going to get what we actually need?" CommonDreams

Trump doesn't want coronavirus testing: His instinct is always to hide the truth
His whole life, Trump has lied about the numbers: From the beginning, he's tried to deflate the coronavirus count. Salon

The great Trump testing scam. Yahoo Finance

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MAY 7, 2020

The Pentagon Wants to Sacrifice Mexican and Indian Workers for U.S. Arms Industry Profits. ... In These Times

U.S. Mercenaries Captured in Venezuela After Failed Coup Attempt Compared to a “Bad Rambo Movie” DemocracyNow Related: (2019) Roberto Lovato: Elliott Abrams Is Bringing Violence of 1980s U.S. Latin America Policy to Venezuela. DemocracyNow

What Does COVID-19 Mean for the Future of Capitalism?. CounterPunch

ENVIRONMENT

Alarm over deaths of bees from rapidly spreading viral disease. ... Researchers study whether new strain of chronic bee paralysis virus is responsible. Guardian

Trump seizes on pandemic to speed up opening of public lands to industry. ... Planned sale of land to fossil fuel, mining and and timber concerns mirrors rollback of Obama-era pollution regulations. Guardian  Related: Trump moves ahead with selling public land to fossil-fuel industry amid coronavirus and oil price freefall

Land is to be auctioned across western states including parcels close to the Arches and Canyonlands national parks, home of dramatic red-rock landscapes. Independent

The Coronavirus Could Change The Way We Eat Meat. ... The COVID-19 pandemic has hobbled the meat industry. Can small farms raise a more sustainable future? HuffPost

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Washington Post Editorial Board Calls On Joe Biden To Address Sexual Assault Allegation. ... The former vice president has remained quiet following new Tara Reade revelations. HuffPost

Chris Hedges Warns That The Tumult and Pain of Trump's Pandemic is a Preview of Far Worse Things in America's Future. The Truth Report or Download.mp3

Undoubtedly, he's going to be the Blue Plate Special at Cafe Hannity for a while now. Esquire Related: Ousted official files whistleblower complaint, alleges coronavirus warnings ignored. ... Dr. Rick Bright claims he began raising concerns with HHS as early as January. ABC

Maj. Danny: Heaven Protect Us from Another President’s West Point Graduation Speech. ... Thus far, the media focus has unsurprisingly been on either the foolishness -- or near criminality -- of President Trump "requiring” West Point’s seniors to return to campus for the ceremony. These may, perhaps, be fair critiques; though, I wouldn’t be too quick to let USMA’s leadership off-the-hook: these folks tend to adore pageantry and tradition. Scheer Post

Barring Covid-19 Testimony by Top Officials, President Dismisses House Oversight as 'Set Up' by 'Trump-Haters'. ... "What is the White House hiding?" CommonDreams

Governor Andrew Cuomo. Credit: NY State Government. ... Prison Protest - New York Is Denying Incarcerated Women Food, Says Grassroots Coalition. ShadowProof

Fallout: First cancer, now delayed compensation for Indigenous downwinder communities. ... Bureaucratic roadblocks mean ‘apology’ payouts are hard to access for Indigenous communities exposed to nuclear tests. HCN

MAY 7, 2020 - COVID-19 NEWS
Nature Bats Last

Hanging out. Video

New Fauci Interview: No Scientific Evidence the Virus Linked to China Lab. Scheer Post

White House to wind down coronavirus task force as focus shifts to aftermath: Trump. Reuters

Defying Trump and Their Governors, Many Workers Are Refusing to “Reopen” TruthOut

(April 10,2020) “This is Going To Be Constant From This Point On” As Coronavirus Surges, Tracking The PPE Shortage Storm in Some States, and The Calm Before, In Others. ... The Defense Production Act has been invoked, but not fully activated and from New York City to San Francisco, cities and health care professionals are suffering from the shortage in PPE. TarBell

Defying Trump and Their Governors, Many Workers Are Refusing to “Reopen”. ... Recent polling puts public support for continuing the stay-at-home orders at a staggering 76 percent. The minority percentage of “Re-open Now” supporters, represented by some armed protesters here and there and the people flooding some California beaches, amount to less than a quarter of the population. TruthOut

In one week, at least four Sinclair(Radio network) news segments pushing coronavirus misinformation aired on dozens of local TV stations across the country. The conservative Sinclair Broadcast Group aired at least four segments in five days that pushed misinformation about the U.S. COVID-19 response and failed to include important information. Media Matters

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MAY 6, 2020

The Democratic Party’s Cynical, Anti-Democratic Maneuvers Against Bernie Sanders. ... New York Democrats have struck Bernie Sanders from the ballot, canceling the state’s June primary. It’s left a bitter taste in the mouths of his supporters, whose disillusionment with the Democratic Party will only deepen. Jacobin

Ocasio-Cortez Challenger Left Her Job as CNBC Anchor to Serve on Board of Company That Profits From Death. Intercept

The Committee to Save the Rich. ... By recruiting notorious neoliberal economist Larry Summers to advise him on coronavirus policy, Joe Biden has shown that since 2008, liberal elites have learned nothing and forgotten everything. Jacobin

ISRAEL

National Security Veterans Urge Democrats To Go Farther In Opposition To Israel’s Trump-Approved Land Grab. ... The party’s platform under presumptive nominee Joe Biden should for the first time oppose Israeli occupation of the West Bank and settlements, 32 former officials say in a message shared with HuffPost. HuffPost

Israel’s New Government Is Exploiting Pandemic to Annex 30 Percent of West Bank. ... One of the central pillars of this new regime is the unlawful annexation of the Jordan Valley and illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. The annexation has the full backing of U.S. President Donald Trump. TruthOut

Netanyahu Is 'Confident' in His Annexation Plan. Experts Outline His Next Steps. ... Israel’s prime minister has spent the last year talking about annexing the Jordan Valley and settlements in the West Bank. the question is no longer 'Can he do it?' but rather, 'Will he?' Haaretz

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Trump is Igniting a Cold War With China to Try to Win Re-election. CounterPunch/Cockburn

U.S. Trade War Against China Takes a Coronaviral Turn. CounterPunch

Defeat of a Dirty Military Incursion into Venezuela on a Sunday Morning. CounterPunch

Venezuela Arrests 2 U.S. Citizens Among Group Of ‘Mercenaries’ In Beach Raid. ... Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro blamed the attacks on the Trump administration and neighboring Colombia. HuffPost

Venezuela detains two Americans allegedly involved in failed raid to remove Maduro. ... President Nicolas Maduro claims men were among 13 ‘terrorists’ involved in plot to enter country via the coast and oust him. Guardian

The second American civil war is underway. Only this time, it's not North versus South. ... Rural America is ready to lock and load. Urban America is cowering in a lockdown. Independent

Senate Set To Reopen Amid Pandemic With Focus On Trump Judicial, Executive Nominees. ... The COVID-19 crisis has all but closed Congress since late March, a longer absence than during the 1918 Spanish Flu or the 2001 terror attacks. HuffPost

When Undocumented Activists Infiltrated ICE
A conversation with directors Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera about their film, The Infiltrators. The Nation

Under Trump, America has gone a bit late Weimar. We know how that ended. ... Life and death are on the line and the president and his minions appear reluctant to grasp the reality. Guardian

'Belongs in The Hague': Online Disgust Follows Glowing Praise for George W. Bush's Covid-19 Message. ... Key aspects of the 43rd president's administration were highlighted this weekend after Trump critics appear to have whitewashed Bush's legacy. CommonDreams

MAY 6, 2020 - COVID-19 NEWS

Arbeit Macht Frei

As World Joins Forces to Raise $8 Billion for Global Covid-19 Fund, US Contributes This Much: $0. ... "It is a pity the U.S. Is not a part of it. When you are in a crisis, you manage it and you do it jointly with others."  CommonDreams

Brutal Choices: Anders Tegnell and Sweden’s Herd Immunity Goal. CounterPunch

Covid-19’s Third Shock Wave: The Global Food Crisis. ... Many people are already going hungry in the United States; many more will face hunger or starvation in other parts of the world. The Nation

Trump gives up on virus fight to focus on economic recovery – and re-election. Guardian

'Kind of Like Large Scale Negligent Homicide': As Trump Urges Reopenings, CDC Report Warns of Surge in Covid-19 Deaths. ... Internal CDC document projects U.S. coronavirus deaths could reach 3,000 per day by June 1 -- nearly double the current daily death toll. CommonDreams

McConnell’s Stimulus Scam: Vaccinate Businesses, Expose Workers
The Senate leader wants to block businesses from being sued for putting people at risk of Covid-19—thus ensuring people are put at risk. The Nation

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MAY 5, 2020

Trump Says He Won't Approve Covid-19 Package Without Tax Cut That Offers Zero Relief for 30 Million Newly Unemployed. ... "'Payroll tax cut' is code for 'gut Social Security and Medicare's dedicated funding, then demand benefit cuts.' Democrats must stand strong and continue blocking Trump's terrible idea." CommonDreams

COVID-CAPITALIST  ECONOMICS

Cover for Corporate America. ... Can the coronavirus pandemic turn into a softening of legal liabilities for business? Republicans are trying. Daily Beast

Coronavirus Proves Capitalism Has Always Been a Lie. ... Economist Ellen Brown sheds light on the intricacies of an economic system that is being unmasked by the government’s pandemic response. Scheer Post

Corona Capitalism and its Coming Collapse. CounterPunch

McConnell’s New Endgame in the Next COVID Bill: ... “It’s Very Scary”: COVID Surges in Meat Plants as Activists Demand Worker Safety & Meatless Mondays. DemocracyNow

Trump Helps Health Insurers Swell Their Profits ... Wall Street investment firms are under the impression that the Trump administration will waive the medical loss ratio requirement on insurers this year, which could allow the companies to pocket an unprecedented windfall of profits beyond what they made in that record-setting first. Sludge

Donald Trump's four-step plan to reopen the US economy – and why it will be lethal. ... The president and his allies are hiding the facts and pretending ‘freedom’ conquers all. As a result, more Americans will die. Guardian

Corporate Looting as ‘Rescue Plan,’ Robber Barons as ‘Saviors’ . ... For a perfect illustration of how corporate media function as ruling class propaganda, watch how they spin a titanic upward redistribution of wealth as a “rescue plan” for the US economy, and paint a robber baron like US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin as a “savior” of the American public. FAIR

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School Districts Are Preparing To Lay Off Thousands Amid Coronavirus-Related Budget Shortfalls. ... Big city districts have warned that they may have to cut as many as 275,000 staff members combined as tax revenue plummets due to economic shutdowns. HuffPost

Trump’s Nationalism Advances on a Predictable Trajectory to Violence. His Supporters Will Kill When They’re Told To. Intercept

Surviving Pandemics Is Indigenous Resistance. TruthOut

Kelli Ward’s Call for “Reopen” Protesters to Dress as Nurses Reveals GOP Cruelty. ... Former state senator and chairwoman of the Arizona Republican Party Kelli Ward attends CPAC 2018 on February 22, 2018, in National Harbor, Maryland. TruthOut

Frank Rich: Trump’s Potemkin Recovery. ... Amid reports that the federal stockpile of medical supplies is “nearly exhausted” and production of new equipment is unlikely to come soon enough, it now appears that the Trump administration may be playing favorites, distributing supplies to political allies and states important for the president’s reelection campaign. How bad will the fallout be? NY Magazine

Pakistan’s Government Is Sending Police to Beat up Protesting Doctors. ... Pakistani authorities made a bad start to the coronavirus response, using the crisis to push through an IMF agenda of hospital privatization. Jacobin

Worker's Dictatorship and Worker's Democracy.
Download

Congress Quietly Boosts Spending on Lawmakers’ Exclusive Concierge Health Clinic. Intercept

ICE tells federal judge the court has no authority over its detention practices. Miami Herald

Family separations at US border plagued by problems, watchdog finds. ... Efforts to track children separated from families undermined by communication problems that raise serious questions. Guardian

Bolivia’s Socialist Presidential Candidate Luis Arce Catacora Speaks About the Fascist Situation in His Country. CounterPunch

With apparently fabricated nuclear documents, Netanyahu pushed the US towards war with Iran. ... An investigation of supposed Iranian nuclear documents presented in a dramatically staged Netanyahu press conference indicates they were an Israeli fabrication designed to trigger US military conflict with Iran. Gray Zone

The Persistence of White Supremacy: A Conversation with Margaret Kimberley. CounterPunch

All the Women Who Have Spoken Out Against Joe Biden. The Cut

Three of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Buddies Are Secretly Running the V.A. ... A Palm Beach doctor, a lawyer, and the head of Marvel Entertainment have reportedly been calling the shots since Trump was inaugurated. Vanity Fair

MAY 5, 2020 - COVID-19 NEWS
Remember - Nature Bats Last

Trump Changes Estimates Again, Says Coronavirus Death Toll Could Hit 100,000. ... “It’s still going to be, no matter how you look at it, at the very lower end of the plane,” the president said Sunday during a town hall event. HuffPost

I’m A Doctor In A COVID-19 Unit. Before You Call Me A Hero, Here’s What You Should Know. ... “The more work I did in the hospital, the more I became humbled by the tremendous work that others were doing.” HuffPost

'Happy hypoxia': unusual coronavirus effect baffles doctors. ... Some patients who appear not in distress are found to have dangerously low oxygen levels. Guardian

'There Are People Dying and Suffering Because They Can’t Get Healthcare’
CounterSpin interview with Diana Archer on Medicare for All. FAIR

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MAY 4, 2020

Colonial War on Palestine Portable.tv   Related: The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017 YouTube

Pulitzer winner Chris Hedges: These "are the good times -- compared to what's coming next". ... Author of "America: The Farewell Tour": We're heading for a steep decline; Biden and the Democrats have no answers. Salon

How Trump Stole 2020 -- A Warning! Trump & Co are stealing the election right now, but we can steal it back. We can fix it, because we’ve got to. We can beat the ballot bandits. Watch this video of my conversation with constitutional expert and broadcaster Thom Hartmann. Greg Palast

H.L. Mencken once said that in America, “the general average of intelligence, of knowledge, of competence, of integrity, of self-respect, of honor is so low that any man who knows his trade, does not fear ghosts, has read fifty good books, and practices the common decencies stands out as brilliantly as a wart on a bald head.” We have a lot of dumb people in this country.

ECONOMICS

A capitalist view of the situation. Ken Turnage II, chair of the Antioch Planning Commission and California Politician: “We would have significant loss of life, we would lose many elderly, that would reduce burdens in our defunct Social Security System, health care cost (once the wave subsided), make jobs available for others and it would also free up housing in which we are in dire need of,” ... “We would lose a large portion of the people with immune and other health complications. I know it would be loved ones as well. But that would once again reduce our impact on medical, jobs, and housing.”

'Heads we win, tails you lose': how America's rich have turned pandemic into profit. ... (Over) 26 million Americans lose their jobs, the billionaire class has added $308bn to its wealth. Guardian

Shake Shack, Potbelly Among Chains Tapping Small-Biz Funds ... More than a dozen publicly traded companies with revenue of more than $100 million, including Shake Shack Inc., Potbelly Corp. and a Tex-Mex restaurant chain with more than 10,000 employees, received loans through a massive relief program aimed at small businesses.. Bloomberg

A New Low': Betsy DeVos Sued for Garnishing Wages of Nearly 300,000 Student Loan Borrowers During Pandemic. ... "The Trump administration is taking money from borrowers who are living on the edge of poverty, in the middle of a pandemic, and in violation of the law." CommonDreams

Corporate Looting as ‘Rescue Plan,’ Robber Barons as ‘Saviors’. ... For a perfect illustration of how corp. media function as ruling class propaganda, watch how they spin a titanic upward redistribution of wealth as a “rescue plan” for the US economy, and paint a robber baron like US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin as a “savior” of the American public. FAIR

Trump's wealthy friends look to cash in during coronavirus crisis. ... Watchdog groups say Trump’s close ties with donors and backers deserve scrutiny as trillions in federal funds are handed out. Guardian

Amazon And Major Retail Workers Strike For Hazard Pay And Better Safety. ... A historic coalition of workers demanded that major corporations consider their health and safety during the coronavirus pandemic. HuffPost

People With Guns (and No Masks) Swarmed the Michigan State Capitol to Protest the Coronavirus Lockdown. ... Some state legislators, anticipating the possibility of violence, had even come to work that day wearing bulletproof vests. Vice

Economic Decline and the Threat of Fascism. CounterPunch

Ellen Brown: Coronavirus Proves Capitalism Has Always Been a Lie. ... Economist Ellen Brown sheds light on the intricacies of an economic system that is being unmasked by the government’s pandemic response. Scheer Post

The Art of Exploiting a Pandemic: From Propaganda to Profit. ... Throughout the U.S., institutions that have no real interest in public health are exploiting the ongoing pandemic to benefit their public image and their bottom line. We must recognize and combat these efforts in order to fight the pandemic, directing resources to where they’re desperately needed rather than towards PR campaigns. Left Voice

Sen Hawley Calls Out United Airlines After Employees Tell Him The Company Is Cutting Wages, Benefits. Daily Caller

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The Warped Ethics of Voting for the Lesser Evil. CounterPunch

Chomsky: COVID-19 Has Exposed the US Under Trump as a “Failed State” TruthOut

Economist Thomas Piketty: Coronavirus Pandemic Has Exposed the “Violence of Social Inequality” DemocracyNow

16 Foods That You Can Magically Regrow From Scraps. ... Instead of throwing away your celery butts, why not grow a new bunch? BuzzFeed

MAY 4, 2020 - COVID-19 NEWS
Nature Bats Last

Fighting COVID-19 Is Like 'Whack-A-Mole,' Says Writer Who Warned Of A Pandemic. NPR

April 1 - Coronavirus Won't Go Away In Matter Of Weeks, Says Science Writer. YouTube

I Studied The 2014 Ebola Outbreak. Here’s The Lesson We Didn’t Learn. ... “The Ebola outbreak is in some ways a looking glass into the future of life with ? and possibly after ? COVID-19.” HuffPost

Medical Expert: Federal Jail Intentionally Destroying Medical Records and Hiding Extent of Coronavirus Behind Bars. Intercept


Most States Don’t Meet Coronavirus Testing Threshold... With no specific guidelines, states are left to figure out what a successful coronavirus testing program should be. HuffPost

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WEEKEND OF MAY 1-3, 2020

Backing the Wrong Horseman. ... For the purposes of argument, I am going to put an extremely conservative figure of 5 million on the number of people who died as a result of Western military intervention, direct or proxy, in the Middle East. ... Now compare that to the worldwide death toll from coronavirus: 220,000. ... Or put it another way. The total number of deaths from coronavirus in the UK so far is about half the number of civilians killed directly by the US military in the single city of Mosul. Craig Murray

GOP memo urges anti-China assault over coronavirus. ... The Senate Republican campaign arm distributed the 57-page strategy document to candidates. Politico  Related: Trump campaign lashes out over 'Don't defend Trump' memo. ... A strategy memo on coronavirus distributed by the National Republican Senatorial Committee infuriated Trump aides. Politico

Thom Hartmann for BuzzFlash: The GOP Fat-Cat Billionaire War on Workers Steps Up, Forcing Them to Choose Between Starving or Risking Their Lives. BuzzFlash

Tribes Were Supposed To Get $8 Billion In COVID-19 Aid. They’ve Gotten $0. ... The delay in disbursing the money “is unnecessary and works against the federal government’s trust responsibility,” House Democrats told Treasury. HuffPost

Trump Mocks Man’s Mask at White House as Pence Refuses to Wear One at Mayo Clinic. Intercept

Trump Attacks Post Office While Carriers & Clerks Die from COVID-19. DemocracyNow

Can Boris Johnson’s Government Survive the COVID-19 Crisis Their Mistakes Exacerbated? CounterPunch/Cockburn

Democrats Poised to Propose Medicare for Those Who’ve Lost Health Coverage. TruthOut

Trump and Biden Trade China Hit Pieces: Distinctions without a Difference. CounterPunch

Trump's judges: a revolution to create a new conservative America. ... Together, Donald Trump’s judges are changing America. ... The president’s judicial appointments have been a quieter project than most of his flamboyant presidency, but will have longer-lasting impacts on healthcare, voting rights, criminal justice and the climate. Guardian Related: Trump's judges are a giant step backward for America. ... After three years of Trump’s appointments, the federal judiciary is 73% white and 66% male, but it will be even more male and pale by the end of his term. Guardian

How Militarism Fuels The Climate Crisis And Vice Versa. Popular Resistance

Who Is The Mystery Man Behind @realDonaldTrump? (Besides The President). NPR  Related: The Trump Aide Bankrupted by a Single Illness. ... An American Tale. ... How Dan Scavino, who rose from Trump golf course caddy to White House social-media guru, and his wife were forced to declare bankruptcy over her chronic disease. Daily Beast

Netanyahu Confident Trump will Let Him Annex Vast Swathes of Palestinian Territory. ... Since Europe is weak and pusillanimous when it comes to dealing with Israeli aggression, or in some cases is simply perfidious, the issue has been left in the hands of the United States, where it has been decisively captured by the Israel lobbies and billionaires such as Sheldon Adelson. Scheer Post

WEEKEND OF MAY 1-3, 2020 COVID-19

The Inevitable Coronavirus Censorship Crisis is Here. ... As the Covid-19 crisis progresses, censorship programs advance, amid calls for China-style control of the Internet. Taibbi

Trump Orders Meat Plants to Stay Open in Move Slammed by Union. Bloomberg

WHO Adviser on Meat Plants: If We’re at War, the Weapons We Need Are Tests and PPE, Not Pork. DemocracyNow

Poll Shows Tens of Millions of Americans Would Avoid Covid-19 Treatment Over Cost Fears. ... "A country that puts people in this situation is not a country upholding its responsibility to its citizens." CommonDreams

The Top 10 Lies About President Trump’s Response to the Coronavirus. PJ Media


HE KNEW

3/20/20 - Intelligence officials were warning Trump about a pandemic as early as January, but they 'couldn't get him to do anything about it' Business Insider

3/21/20 -
Intelligence reports warned about a pandemic in January. Trump reportedly ignored them. ... As Trump reportedly received intelligence reports about the seriousness of the coronavirus threat, he continued to downplay its severity in public. Vox

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MAY 12 THROUGH 23

WEEKEND OF MAY 22-24, 2020

Weekend Read: The Jakarta Method: Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program That Shaped Our World. by Vince Bevins.  The hidden story of the wanton slaughter -- in Indonesia,  Latin America, and around the world --  backed by the United States.Bookshop

Authoritarianism is Shoddy. ... Well, it is really happening. It is something of a shock to see yourself listed as a criminal for writing the truth. Craig Murray

Covid-19, Big Ag and the Failing Food System. CounterPunch

These "are the good times — compared to what's coming next" Salon

Immigrants Protest Demolition of NJ Public School for $750 Million Robert Wood Johnson Cancer Center. DemocracyNow

ELECTION NEWS

Republicans devote $20m and 50,000 people into efforts to restrict voting ...The RNC is seeking people in 15 key states to serve as poll watchers and challenge the registration of voters they believe ineligible. Guardian

Trump Threatens ‘Funding’ To States Expanding Mail-In Voting During The Pandemic. ... The president’s tweets show that he sees voter suppression as a vital tool in his reelection campaign. HuffPost

Trump threatens to cut states' election funding over false claims of voter fraud. ... The president falsely cited the risk of voter fraud in tweeted threats to defund Nevada and Michigan, both 2020 swing states. Guardian

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How Bernie & Squad Actually Support Corporate State. YouTube/Hedges

"Jane Roe" of Roe v. Wade admits in "deathbed confession" she was paid to fake anti-abortion stance. ... FX's "AKA Jane Roe" documentary filmmaker Nick Sweeney spoke to Salon about Norma McCorvey's shocking candidness. Salon

America’s Cold War Crimes Abroad Are Still Shaping Our World. ... In the twentieth century, the United States engaged in brutal, sadistic interventions all over the world, from Indonesia to Brazil, to stop the advance of the Left. We’re still living in the shadow of those interventions. Jacobin

Anti-Communist Massacres Killed Indonesia’s Hopes for National Liberation and Socialism ... The mass slaughter of leftists in Indonesia was more than just another Washington-backed atrocity. It was the prototype for smashing the hopes and dreams of the Left in the developing world — for good. Jacobin

Leftist Perspectives on Zoom: Socialist Struggle while Social Distancing. CounterPunch/Nader

How a Chinese AI Giant Made Chatting—and Surveillance -- Easy ... Alexa can tell you the weather. Siri knows a few jokes. In China, voice-computing company iFlytek built similar smart assistants beloved by users. But its tech is also helping the government listen in. Wired

How the New York Times Enhances Trump’s Propaganda. CounterPunch

Redirecting Asylum-Seekers from U.S. to Guatemala Was a Cruel Farce, Report Finds. Intercept

The World Trade Organization and the Demise of Multilateralism. CounterPunch

Millions of US farm animals to be culled by suffocation, drowning and shooting.... Closure of meat plants due to coronavirus means ‘depopulation’ of hens and pigs with methods experts say are inhumane, despite unprecedented demand at food banks. Guardian

Pompeo Openly Admits He Asked Trump to Fire Inspector General Because He Wasn't Doing What 'We Had Tried To Get Him To'... "Trump has decimated the foundation of independent oversight within the executive branch." CommonDreams

What You Need to Know about the ICC Investigation of War Crimes in Occupied Palestine. CounterPunch

Washington’s tall tale of Iranian-al Qaeda alliance based on questionably sourced book, ‘The Exile’ ... A disinformation campaign aimed to justify the assassination of Qassem Soleimani by painting him and Iran as willing enablers of al-Qaeda. The propaganda operation relied heavily on a shoddily sourced book, “The Exile.” GrayZone

The Race to Replace a Dying Neoliberalism. CounterPunch

Bundy's trenches may force confrontation with BLM. ... The Bureau of Land Management is investigating whether Nevada rancher Ryan Bundy illegally built new irrigation infrastructure across Gold Butte National Monument, the same area where his family unlawfully grazes cattle on public lands E&E News

5 Things the Government Must Do Now to Avoid Collapse And/Or Revolution. CounterPunch

WEEKEND OF MAY 22-24, 2020;
COVID-19 NEWS - NATURE BATS LAST

Covid-19 Public Service Announcement From the Dept of Global Emergencies. YouTube

Seven Ways Trump’s Mendacity. ... Surrendered Nation to Covid-19. ... Many Americans believe that Trump ignored the COVID-19 virus until too late. There has, however, been no systematic analysis of how Trump’s denials and related delay injured our country’s response. Until now. ScheerPost

Here’s How Most Americans Really Feel About Wearing Face Masks. ... If there’s a culture war over masks, someone forgot to tell most of the public, a new survey finds. HuffPost

Ousted Designer Of Florida’s COVID-19 Dashboard Says She Was Asked To Censor Data. ... Rebekah Jones said she was dismissed after refusing to “manually change data” to present a favorable picture for the state’s efforts to reopen. HuffPost

What The President Continues To Say (About The Plague). CounterPunch

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MAY 21, 2020

Netanyahu takes office in deal that could see West Bank annexation. ... Rival Benny Gantz to take over as PM of Israeli unity government after 18 months. Guardian

'Not Just Bad, It's Pathological': While Pushing Big Oil Bailouts, Trump Slaps Wind and Solar Industry With $50 Million in Old Rent Bills ..."Robbing from a clean energy future to prop up the dirty energy past." CommonDreams

Visit Puerto Rico!. PSA from the Dept. for The War on Territories (DTWT) . YouTube

After Dams Fail, Dow Admits Floodwaters in Midland, Michigan 'Commingling' With Toxic Chemical Storage Ponds. ... "This has the potential to be a major environmental disaster." CommonDreams

Wet markets are not the problem – focus on the billion-dollar international trade in wild animals, experts say ... Global wildlife sales not only carry risk of infectious diseases but threaten nearly 9,000 species with extinction. Independent

FIRING OF AN INSPECTOR GENERAL

Pompeo Openly Admits He Asked Trump to Fire Inspector General Because He Wasn't Doing What 'We Had Tried To Get Him To' . ... "Trump has decimated the foundation of independent oversight within the executive branch." CommonDreams  

Fired Inspector General Was Looking Into Pompeo’s Personal Use of Public Funds ... State Department whistleblower who was fired on Friday evening had been looking into whether Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had abused his powers of office by ordering department employees to carry out personal tasks for him. TruthOut

Ousted Inspector General Was Also Probing Possible Illegal Pompeo-Trump Effort to Force Through Saudi Arms Deal. ... "Since day one, this president has thought he's above the law, above criticism, and can get away with anything—including a fake 'emergency' to sell bombs to Saudi Arabia," says Sen. Bernie Sanders. CommonDreams

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No -- Argues Noam Chomsky, Roger Waters, Monia Mazigh, and 100+ Others -- Canada does Not Deserve UN Security Council Seat. ... "Despite its peaceful reputation, Canada is not acting as a benevolent player on the international stage," warns open letter from activists, artists, and academics. CommonDreams

Civil Rights Groups Vow to Fight Back as GOP Builds Massive Voter Suppression Machine for 2020 Election ... "We will use every tool in our arsenal to block efforts aimed at discouraging participation by eligible voters this election season." CommonDreams

The Head of the AFL-CIO Is Infected -- With Union Bureaucrat-itis. ... In this crisis, the response from union leaders has left much to be desired. Nowhere is this more evident than in a recent address by the president of the AFL-CIO, Richard Trumka. He offers only a “cure-all” bill in Congress, but a healthy labor movement would fight in strikes and in the streets. Left Voice

Ben Smith’s NYT Critique of Ronan Farrow Describes a Toxic, Corrosive, and Still-Vibrant Trump-Era Pathology: “Resistance Journalism” Intercept

Imagine a World Where All Workers Are “Essential,” But Not All Leaders Are. TruthOut

War and Power in Classical Greece: Lessons for Superpowers and the World. CounterPunch

Trump Salutes Long Island Protest Where “Hang Fauci” Sign Was Displayed. Intercept

MAY 21, 2020 - COVID-19 NEWS
Nature Bats Last

Harvard Doctor: As States Rush to Reopen, Lack of COVID-19 Testing Is “Achilles Heel” for U.S. DemocracyNow

Hydroxychloroquine, Trump and Covid-19: what you need to know ... As the US president reports he is taking antimalarial drug, what are the risks and research? Guardian

COVID-19 impacts every corner of the Navajo Nation. ... Front-line workers confront the world’s newest deadly malady. HCN

The Stay-at-Home Orders Trump Mocked Likely Saved Nearly a Quarter Million Lives. TruthOut

Navajo Nation Has Highest Coronavirus Infection Rate in the U.S. DemocracyNow

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MAY 20, 2020

Trump: Letting Big Corporations Get Away with Whatever They Want. ... Trump considers himself above the law. CommonDreams

The Trump administration has recently removed 4 inspectors general. Here are the ousted watchdogs.
USA Today

Chris Hedges on Noam Chomsky Favouring Biden Over Trump & Voting for Lesser of Two Evils. Chris Hedges YouTube

'Reality is Radicalizing': As Pandemic Pushes Biden to Embrace Progressive Ideas He Once Spurned, Left Says We Told You So. ... "It's almost as if...the left was right all along." CommonDreams

SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE

States facing sudden drops in tax revenue amid the pandemic are announcing deep cuts to their Medicaid programs just as millions of newly jobless Americans are surging onto the rolls, many having lost their employer-provided health insurance.

House Democrats Demand Trump State Department Turn Over 'Secret Plan' to Slash Social Security Amid Pandemic. ... "The idea that we would ask Americans to sell out their retirement and long-term security for assistance during a crisis is insane." CommonDreams

Even in a Pandemic, the Knives Are out for Social Security. Jacobin

Trump’s Advisers Have a Brazen Plot to Gut Social Security. CounterPunch

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Ari Berman on Voter Suppression and Coronavirus. FAIR

Missouri GOP Votes to Gut Anti-Gerrymandering Reform Approved by Voters. TruthOut

The Real Winners of Israel's Election: Ultra-orthodox Parties Amass Great Economic Power. ... In coalition deals with Netanyahu's Likud, Shas and United Torah Judaism ensured they would get key appointments in the cabinet and Knesset. Haaretz

Federal Government Buys Riot Gear, Increases Security Funding, Citing Coronavirus Pandemic. Intercept

Foreign Policy Sees ‘Repression’ in Vietnam’s Fight Against Coronavirus. ... In the US, government may surveill you, but at least it doesn't protect your health. FAIR

Democrats Have Abandoned Civil Liberties. ... The Blue Party’s Trump-era Embrace of Authoritarianism Isn’t Just Wrong, it’s a Fatal Political Mistake. Taibbi

Ahmaud Arbery’s Murder Shows Lynching Remains a Reality for Black America. TruthOut

MAY 20, 2020 - COVID-19 NEWS
Nature Bats Last

COVID Deaths in US Approach 100,000 as Trump Administration Misleads Public. TruthOut

Face visors may protect wearer but not other people against Covid-19. ... Public health experts not convinced of plastic shields’ benefits for general users. Guardian

Teachers Union Says 'Flimsy' CDC Flowchart on School Reopenings Shows Trump Disregard for Student Safety. ... "The reality of reopening school buildings and college campuses is that any missteps could cost lives... Once again, this administration has politics trumping science." CommonDreams

Coronavirus: Texas records largest single-day increase in Covid-19 cases ahead of phased reopening. ... Supply of experimental treatment sent to worst affected region. Independent

Thousands of Covid-19 cases missed due to late warning on smell loss, say experts. ... UK direction for those with anosmia to isolate and seek test was overdue, say scientists. Guardian

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MAY 19, 2020

Profiting from Coronavirus. ... On 5 May, the British security services released to their pet media the claim that Russia, China and Iran were attempting to hack into British research institutes conducting coronavirus research. Craig Murray

Bernie just wanted to be part of the "club" & "failed us." Chris Hedges - YouTube

How Will COVID-19 Change the World? Historian Frank Snowden on Epidemics From the Black Death to Now. DemocracyNow

EASY MONEY

Corruption and the Pandemic Bailout. CounterPunch/Baker

Trump’s New COVID-19 Czar Holds $10 Million In Stock Options In Vaccine Company. HuffPost

How much does it cost to send someone to prison? Market Place

Trump Feared Testing Too Many People for Virus Would Spook Stock Markets, Says Report. DailyBeast

Whistleblower Says Systemic Mortgage Fraud Has

Returned to Wall Street. TruthDigThe Business Model of Private Prisons. Investopedia

Why Are House Democrats Pushing to Give Coronavirus Relief Funds to Corporate and Dark Money Groups? ... If you're curious about who both Republicans and Democrats are prioritizing in providing coronavirus relief, look no further than the new legislation proposed by House Democrats that would give away enormous amounts of money to corporate lobbyists and dark money groups under the guise of aiding average workers. Jacobin

Big Banks Got the Sweetest Deal from the Covid-19 Bailouts. ... The banking expert explains why Congress’ stimulus bill has been a boon for Wall Street and not the small businesses that need it most. ScheerPost

One Pound Capitalism, a Pinch of Democracy and Keep On Keepin’ On. CounterPunch

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Trump Is Using COVID-19 As An Excuse To Let Polluters Destroy The Earth ... Trump's former coal lobbyist EPA administrator is letting oil, gas, and coal take advantage of the global pandemic. TRN

The Sham Prosecution of Michael Flynn with Glenn Greenwald. YouTube Related: New Documents From the Sham Prosecution of Gen. Michael Flynn Also Reveal Broad Corruption in the Russiagate Investigations. Intercept

Disaster Capitalism Is Coming for Public Education. Jacobin

One Pound Capitalism, a Pinch of Democracy and Keep On Keepin’ On. CounterPunch

Meet the Slate of Socialist Insurgents Running for Office in New York. ... In New York City, the Democratic Socialists of America are running a six-candidate socialist slate aiming for state and national office. It will serve as a test run for socialist organizing in the age of coronavirus. Jacobin

Dark Winter? Honey Badger Trump Don’t Care. ... “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.” CounterPunch

“The Wuhan of the Americas”: U.S. Deports COVID-19-Positive Immigrants to Haiti & Guatemala. DemocracyNow

Racism, Animal Rights and Eugene Debs. CounterPunch

Is Elon Musk a Fraud?. Intercept

MAY 19, 2020 - COVID-19 NEWS
Nature Bats Last

“We have the best testing in the world. Could be that testing is, frankly, overrated. Maybe it is overrated. But whenever they start yelling we want more, we want more. Then we do more and they say we want more. When you test, you have a case. When you test, you find something is wrong with people. If we didn’t do any testing we would have very few cases.” The Trump

HHS Chief Alex Azar: Defying Social Distancing Guidelines Part Of American ‘Freedom’. ... The secretary of health and human services wouldn’t say if he’s concerned by people gathering in large crowds without masks. HuffPost

Latest situation report from The Government - The Machine YouTube

Trump Salutes Long Island Protest Where “Hang Fauci” Sign Was Displayed. Intercept

We Can’t Let Boris Johnson’s Government Sacrifice Workers for Corporate Profits. Jacobin

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MAY 18, 2020

“I was the CIA director. We lied, we cheated, we stole.” - Mike Pompeo. ‘The American friends’: New court files expose Sheldon Adelson’s security team in US spy operation against Julian Assange. ... An exclusive investigation by The Grayzone reveals new details on the critical role Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands played in an apparent CIA spying operation targeting Julian Assange, and exposes the Sands security staff who helped coordinate the malicious campaign. GrayZone

'Monstrous Cruelty: As Hunger Soars, Trump USDA Resumes Effort to Take Nutrition Benefits From More Than a Million People. CommonDreams

Biden Taps AOC and Jayapal To Help Shape Party Policy. Isn’t This A Win for Progressives? Intercept

WAR IS WHAT DEFINES US (Hedges)

Celebrated to Death: the Betrayal of the American Soldier. CounterPunch

Foreign Correspondent: Biden vs. Trump on Foreign Policy. ... We all know that Trump’s foreign policy has been a disaster. But is Joe Biden’s any better? ScheerPost

The U.S. Military is Hell-Bent on Trying to Overpower China. CounterPunch

Corporate Media Setting Stage for New Cold War With China. ... Corporate media are laying the ideological groundwork for a new cold war with China, presenting the nation as a hostile power that needs to be kept in check. FAIR

The Venezuela Kerfuffle and the Secret Team. CounterPunch

Greenlighting War: Iran and Yemen. CounterPunch

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Trump Feared Testing Too Many People for Virus Would Spook Stock Markets, Says Report. DailyBeast

"The administration has decided that now—amid the most pervasive need in a century—is a great time to crack down on Americans who rely on food stamps." CommonDreams

Julian Assange's Trial Is FIXED! w/Chris Hedges. YouTube

'Finding Hope in Times of Despair: New World is Possible. CounterPunch

Don’t Pretend Joe Biden Is Actually Moving Left. ... Joe Biden has named several progressives, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sara Nelson, to newly announced policy “task forces.” This beats him just sneering at leftists — but it’s no great progressive victory that a few good people are on a random list of names for toothless task forces. Jacobin

Demanding 'Unprecedented' Action From Congress, Sanders Says HEROES Act Must Include Medicare Expansion and $2,000 Monthly Payments. ... "The Senate must improve this legislation if we are to adequately address the two most urgent needs facing working families right now: healthcare and economic security." CommonDreams

If This 'Doesn't Give You Chills I Don't Know What Will': McConnell Patriot Act Expansion Would Hand AG Barr Unprecedented Spy Powers. ... "These amendments would pretty much guarantee the ability of an incumbent administration to spy on its political opponents without consequence." CommonDreams

Schools Are Struggling to Feed Hungry Students as Unemployment Rises. TruthOut

Why the FISA Amendments Act Is Unconstitutional. ACLU

Even in a Pandemic, the Knives Are out for Social Security. Jacobin

World nuclear arms spending hit $73bn last year – half of it by US. ... Spending by nine nuclear-armed states rose 10%. ... Trump boosted nuclear funding but cut pandemic prevention. Guardian

Defend Mark Hirst. ... Deliberately to misconstrue a call to political action in opposition to a political grouping as an act of “menace” is state persecution which has profound implications. The prosecution of Mark Hirst is the act of an executive with major fascist leanings. Craig Murray   Related: Mark Hirst legal defense fund

MAY 18, 2020 - COVID-19 NEWS
Nature Bats Last

Get the latest information from the CDC about COVID-19. YouTube

Eric Trump says coronavirus will 'magically go away' after election, suggesting disease is a Democrat ploy. ... 'They’ll milk it every single day between now and November 3rd'. Independent   Related: Eric Trump Goes on Fox News to Claim That Coronavirus a 'Hoax' to Hurt His Father's Re-Election Bid. ... MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle wondered why, in that case, the interview was not being held face-to-face. CommonDreams

Difference between Surgical, N95 and Cloth masks. Download

Coronavirus Pandemic Prompts Global Mental Health Crisis as Millions Feel Alone, Anxious & Depressed. DemocracyNow

Donald Trump’s megalomania and Boris Johnson’s incompetence have increased the coronavirus death toll. ... Nativist demagogues are the worst leaders to have in charge during a real crisis because they specialise in exaggerating non-existent threats. Independent/Cockburn

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WEEKEND OF MAY 15-17, 2020

Trump vs Roosevelt: How the US once led a fight against a deadly virus but is losing it today. ... When polio was the most feared disease 70 years ago, the US spearheaded the battle for a vaccine. Compare that effort with Trump’s bizarre and chaotic response to the pandemic, which has produced a death toll in the US higher than anywhere else in the world. Independent/Cockburn

British Writer Pens The Best Description Of Trump I’ve Read. ... he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace. Coming42

Screen New Deal: Naomi Klein on How Companies Like Google Plan to Profit in High-tech COVID Dystopia. DemocracyNow Interview and video  Related: Screen New Deal. ... Under Cover of Mass Death, Andrew Cuomo Calls in the Billionaires to Build a High-tech Dystopia. Intercept/Klein

Why do Republicans behave the way they do? ... how the Dems have aided and abetted (them). ... Why are the Republicans so mean-spirited when it comes to “the poor” and so indulgent when it comes to “the rich”? MiniPost

ENVIRONMENT

9 States Sue EPA For Easing Pollution Monitoring Requirements During Pandemic. ... The states, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, claim the EPA’s relaxed policy is not transparent and gives polluters too much wiggle room. HuffPost

Trump dismantles environmental protections under cover of coronavirus. ... Administration is weakening protections ahead of the election, making changes that could take years for a Democratic president to undo. Guardian

Alliance for the Wild Rockies Challenges Killing of Yellowstone Ecosystem Grizzlies to Protect Wyoming Cows. CounterPunch

Studies Reveal Climate Tipping Points Could Be Here Much Sooner Than We Thought. ... According to the findings, climate tipping points could happen in a matter of years or decades, not on the ecological timescale of hundreds, or even, thousands of years. CommonDreams

An Irrational Fear of Predators Drives Utah Politics. CounterPunch

Potentially fatal bouts of heat and humidity on the rise, study finds. ... Scientists identify thousands of extreme events, suggesting stark warnings about global heating are already coming to pass. Guardian Related: Drop in pollution may bring hotter weather and heavier monsoons. ...Scientists say fewer particles and polluting gases means more sunlight can reach Earth’s surface Guardian

Fears of Bolsonaro's Threat to Amazon Realized as New Data Shows Rainforest Destruction Up 55%. ... "Bolsonaro is not only turning a blind eye as land grabbers, illegal loggers, and miners continue to plunder Indigenous territories during the pandemic, he plans to make things easier for them." CommonDreams

The Green New Deal Is the Key to Ending Forever Wars. ... Converting the energy grid to 100 percent renewables would cost $1.9 trillion less than the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.  TruthOut

'Not Today. Not Tomorrow. Not Ever': Indigenous Campaigners Protest As KXL Pipeline Construction Begins Amid Legal Challenges. ... "This pipeline will not be built." CommonDreams

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The HEROES Act Is a Vital Step Toward Ending COVID, So of Course It Is Doomed. ... Lindsey Graham announced the COVID-19 relief bill was "dead on arrival" in the Senate. TruthOut

What Reconstruction and the New Deal Can Teach Us About What Comes After the Pandemic Presidency. Intercept

These "are the good times — compared to what's coming next". ... We're heading for a steep decline; Biden and the Democrats have no answers. Salon Chris Hedges

December 2019 - Chris Hedges on the Rot Within the American System. Hedges video

The Coming New World Disorder. CounterPunch

'It's all rigged': Trump foreshadows how he could undermine presidential election. ...Trump accusations shed light on how he could use the Covid-19 pandemic to undermine the results of the November election. Guardian

Donald Trump brings his claim of absolute power to the supreme court. ... The nine justices are to hear three cases testing the president’s right to keep his taxes and financial records secret – the implications are far-reaching. Guardian

High Stakes Gambling on Biden’s Foreign Policy. ... In the midst of what’s become a sort of progressive civil war over “lesser evil” voting in November, here’s a different look at Uncle Joe: Biden on war. Scheer Post

Bombshell: Crowdstrike admits ‘no evidence’ Russia stole emails from DNC server. ... Crowdstrike, the firm behind the Russian email hacking allegation at the core of Russiagate, makes a bombshell admission: “We did not have concrete evidence.” Gray Zone

Trump Declares War on Statistics as He Pivots to Human Sacrifice. ... Wartime president? His only war is the same one it’s been all his life: against truth, against facts, against anything that might expose the warped reality of who he is. Daily Beast

Man who took video of Ahmaud Arbery's death is a 'pawn in a larger game', attorney says. ... Lawyer says conspiracy theories about his client’s relationship to incident have made him subject of misinformation campaign. Independent

Coming Soon: Bipartisan Deficit Hawks Calling for Austerity. Jacobin

The Pandemic’s Catastrophic Hit to the Labor Market. CounterPunch

A Coronavirus Cover-Up Is Already Starting
The bipartisan ideology of “looking forward as opposed to looking backwards” is here again -- it is designed to block efforts to hold Trump and his cronies accountable for their incompetence & malice. David Siorta

Iraq Will be Hit Harder by Falling Oil Prices Than COVID-19 or ISIS. CounterPunch

WEEKEND OF MAY 15-17, 2020;
COVID-19 NEWS - NATURE BATS LAST

Symptoms of Coronavirus. CDC  or Download

140+ Global Leaders Call for Free "People's Vaccine" to Put Human Lives Above Corporate Greed in Fight Against Covid-19. CommonDreams

Coronavirus world map: which countries have the most cases and deaths? ... Find out where the virus has spread, and where it has been most deadly. Guardian

Team Trump Pushes CDC to Revise Down Its COVID Death Counts. ... The president and members of his task force are skeptical of the numbers and want the methodology changed. Daily Beast

Trump Pressures CDC to Lower COVID Death Count by Changing Calculation Method . TruthOut

Healthcare Industry Sees “Potential Bonanza” of Profits in COVID-19 Crisis. DemocracyNow

Trump Administration Won’t Guarantee Universal Access to COVID-19 Vaccine. ... Millions of taxpayer dollars flow to drug companies, but top health officials can’t guarantee an affordable vaccine. TruthOut

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MAY 14, 2020

What principles and values rule the world? - Noam Chomsky video

Coronavirus: Doctors Without Borders sends team to Navajo Nation, worst hit-area in US. ... ‘You can’t expect people to isolate if they have to drive 100 miles to get food and water’. Independent

“COVID-19 Has Been Racialized”: Black Scholar Jill Nelson Arrested for Chalking “Trump = Plague”. DemocracyNow

Tyson is a Repeat Offender. CounterPunch

Corporate Media Don’t Think Americans Paid to Invade Venezuela Count as Mercenaries. FAIR

EASY MONEY

Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic, America’s Billionaires Thrive and Prosper. CounterPunch

HEROES Act Delivers a Win to the Health Insurance Industry. Intercept

GOP Senator Who Voted for Trump Tax Cuts and Corporate Slush Fund Now Says 'Not Enough Money to Help Everybody' Harmed by Covid-19. ... "They took care of their billionaire buddies and Wall Street bankers. Now they're trying to say there's 'not enough' left to help you and your family. It's a lie." CommonDreams

Slumlord Capitalism v. Global Pandemic. CounterPunch

'Disaster Capitalism at Its Worst': Report Details Big Oil's Efforts to Cash In on Coronavirus. ... "Polluters fought hard for kickbacks in the first coronavirus stimulus package and they are undoubtedly up to it again." CommonDreams

Fossil Fuels Already Get Billions in Bailouts -- They’re Called Subsidies. TruthOut

Once Again, Congress Will Let Wall Street Pillage Main Street. CounterPunch

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U.S. Dishonors Navajo with Death Penalty. ... Amidst the coronavirus devastation, it’s important not to overlook the fact that, at the end of April, two federal appellate judges called out the U.S. government for continuing to dishonor the Navajo Nation – the largest Indigenous tribe in America – through its pursuit of the death penalty for Lezmond Mitchell. CounterPunch

Standoff in South Dakota: Cheyenne River Sioux Refuse Governor’s Demand to Remove COVID Checkpoints. DemocracyNow

Mitch McConnell Moves to Expand Bill Barr’s Surveillance Powers. ... Welcome to the Trump-era Patriot Act: a law that protects politicians while giving the government greater knowledge of the websites you searched for and visited. DailyBeast

High Rates Of Suicide Among Combat Veterans. Chris Hedges talks to Matthew Hoh, former US Marines company commander, about the high rates of veteran suicides. Hoh served two tours in Iraq as a Marine and also worked as an official within the State Department. He resigned his position as a State Department political officer in Afghanistan in 2009 in protest at the Obama administration’s escalation of the war. Video

'Time for a Major Shift': Groups Demand Biden Vow End to Endless Wars and Destructive US Foreign Policy. ... A joint letter urges the presidential candidate to oppose regime-change interventions and broad-based sanctions, engage with Iran and North Korea, and support a just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. CommonDreams

“Weaponized and Racialized”: Police Departments Use COVID-19 to Target Black & Brown Communities. DemocracyNow

Under Trump, American exceptionalism means poverty, misery and death. ... No other advanced nation denies healthcare and work protections, or loosens lockdown while fatalities mount. Guardian

Bombshell: Crowdstrike admits ‘no evidence’ Russia stole emails from DNC server. ... Crowdstrike, the firm behind the Russian email hacking allegation at the core of Russiagate, makes a bombshell admission: “We did not have concrete evidence.” GrayZone

MAY 14, 2020 COVID-19 NEWS
NATURE BATS LAST

Terminal Conditions. ... One only has to compare the number of dead in the U.S. to either Germany or South Korea to comprehend fully the deliberate death-dealing disaster enabled by Trump and his minions. CounterPunch

CDC Reopen Document Vastly Differs From White House’s Plan. ... The Associated Press obtained a 63-page document from the CDC which stresses planning for future virus flareups. HuffPost

“Losing the Fabric of the City”: COVID-19 Took Chicago Black Lives First & Exposed Structural Racism. DemocracyNow

Warning Against Swift Reopening of Economy, Fauci Admits Covid-19 Death Toll 'Almost Certainly Higher' Than Official 80,000+ ... Meanwhile, new poll shows majority of Americans believe federal government not doing enough to stop resurgence of outbreak. CommonDreams

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MAY 13, 2020

Mass Unemployment Is a Failure of Capitalism. ... The difficulties caused to workers by record unemployment during the pandemic are a product of capitalism. CounterPunch

Top Police Officer Requests Official List of All Jews in Ukrainian City, Sparking Fury. ... Jewish group slams police force for 'open anti-Semitism' after high-ranking official asks for information on all members of the Jewish community including phone numbers and places of residence. Haaretz

ISRAEL - PALESTINE

The Elders Issue Scathing Rebuke of Israel's Trump-Approved West Bank Annexation Plan. ... "The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians can only ever be solved by finding a solution that guarantees peace, security, rights, and dignity to both peoples. Unilaterally seizing territory and ignoring international law achieves precisely the opposite." CommonDreams

Israel’s top court gives go-ahead to Netanyahu’s unity deal with election rival Gantz. ... Prime minister faces just one more hurdle for his controversial deal: a parliamentary vote on legislation needed to allow the coalition. Independent

National Security Veterans Urge Democrats To Go Farther In Opposition To Israel’s Trump-Approved Land Grab. ... The party’s platform under presumptive nominee Joe Biden should for the first time oppose Israeli occupation of the West Bank and settlements, 32 former officials say in a message shared with HuffPost. HuffPost

Trial by Media: a troubling Netflix series on press coverage of the courtroom. ... New docuseries executive-produced by George Clooney revisits six high-profile cases in which the media played an outsize role in justice, or lack thereof. Guardian

Conservatives Are Fighting a “No-Brainer” Ethics Rule Banning Judges From Joining the Federalist Society. Intercept

A Late-Breaking Bulletin From PBS: “For Many Americans, Health Insurance is Tied to a Job”. CounterPunch

“Bolivia’s Postcoup Regime Did Nothing to Stop the Virus”. ... Four months after the coup in Bolivia, Luis Arce is presidential candidate for Evo Morales’s MAS. Jacobin interviewed him about the postcoup regime, its handling of coronavirus, and what the delayed election means for the Left’s chances of returning to power. Jacobin

The day police bombed a city street: can scars of 1985 Move atrocity be healed? .. Row houses in Philadelphia burn after policed dropped a bomb on the Move house in May 1985. Eleven people, including five children, died and a Philadelphia neighborhood burned down in the airstrike against a black liberation group. Now an effort at reconciliation is under way. Guardian

Obama, Biden Oval Office Meeting On January 5 Was Key To Entire Anti-Trump Operation. ... Susan Rice's bizarre Inauguration Day email about that meeting helps explain the campaign of leaks, lies, and obstruction that followed. The Federalist

With Tara Reade’s Allegations, Joe Biden’s Campaign Is Only the Latest Chapter of America’s Accountability Problem. Intercept

George W Bush paved the way for Trump – to rehabilitate him is appalling. ... We don’t have to rewrite the former president’s record just because the incumbent is unleashing his own campaign of shock and awfulness. Guardian

Following Mexico’s Worker Strikes, the US Steps in to Keep Border Factories Open. TruthOut

Crushing the States, Saving the Banks: the Fed’s Generous New Rules. ... Congress seems to be at war with the states. Only $150 billion of its nearly $3 trillion coronavirus relief package – a mere 5% – has been allocated to the 50 states; and they are not allowed to use it where they need it most, to plug the holes in their budgets caused by the mandatory shutdown. CounterPunch

ICE’s Immigration Detainees Protested Lack of Coronavirus Precautions -- And SWAT-like Private-Prison Guards Pepper-Sprayed Them. Intercept

Radical Politics and Pandemic Nightmares. CounterPunch/Giroux

American Police Have Stashed Away Billions-And You Are Paying The Bill. ... The first part of our investigation into the hidden costs of policing reveals the exorbitant amount of money funneled to police through police pension funds; a PAR conversation with guest Otto the Watchdog. TRN

MAY 13, 2020 - COVID-19 NEWS
Nature Bats Last

A Coronavirus Cover-up Is Already Starting
The bipartisan ideology of “looking forward as opposed to looking backwards” is here again -- it is designed to block efforts to hold Trump and his cronies accountable for their incompetence & malice. David Siorta

Will Covid-19 mutate into a more dangerous virus? ... What do we know about the way coronavirus is evolving? Guardian

Scientists concerned that coronavirus is adapting to humans. ... Researchers have observed mutations in some strains that may help the virus spread. Guardian

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MAY 12, 2020

An analysis (part 1) of how, why capitalism - especially in US - failed to prepare for or cope with a virus thereby enabling it to trigger another crash of capitalism (third this century: dot.com in 2000, sub-prime mortgage in 2008) Democracy @ Work (Video)

The Trump Administration's "Monstrous Idea": Direct Payments in Exchange for Cuts to Social Security Benefits. ... "Donald Trump and his administration will stop at nothing to cut Social Security." CommonDreams

Guaidó’s mercenary hit contract on Venezuela’s Maduro mirrors official US bounty, authorizes death squad killings. ... The leaked contract between Juan Guaidó and the Silvercorp USA mercenary firm closely resembles a DEA bounty placed on the head of President Nicolas Maduro and members of his inner circle this March. The deal tacitly authorizes the elimination of working class Venezuelans in proposed death squad activities by Silvercorp. GrayZone

Bernie Sanders Spells Out How Bad Things Are For U.S. With Historical Comparison. ... It’s the “worst moment in American history maybe since the Civil War,” he declared, revealing how his supporters’ coronavirus stories were too painful to read. HuffPost

TRUMP SPEAK

(5/8/20) - Can't decipher Trump-speak? Meet Margaret, the computer bot. ... Margaret, (an) artificial intelligence bot, tried to transcribe a 127-word section of a speech by President Donald Trump. MSN

WASHINGTON — Bill Frischling’s moment of inspiration came three years ago, when Margaret, his artificial intelligence bot, tried to transcribe a 127-word section of a speech by President Donald Trump.

(2015) The Art of Speaking Like Donald Trump, in 10 Easy Steps. Esquire

(2017) A guide to Trump-speak: think 'bloke talking loudly in the pub'. ... From overly defensive Sigmar Gabriel to delusional Michael Gove, politicians are misreading the president-elect’s utterances. Guardian

(2018) Trump speaks at level of 8-year-old, new analysis finds. ... Mr Trump scores the lowest of any of the past 15 presidents. Independent

(2017) Trumpspeak -- The man vs. the algorithm. ... can something so fragmented and disjointed as the president’s circumlocutory echolalia be described as possessing anything so ordered as a “pattern?” Baffler

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'The Next Crisis': Up to 43 Million Americans Could Lose Health Insurance Due to Pandemic, Study Shows. ... "The American healthcare financing system was not built to withstand the combined impact of a pandemic and a recession." CommonDreams

The White Lobby: When The U.S. Was Sanctions-Buster Extraordinaire. Popular Resistance

With a Distracted Public, the Pentagon Tries to Get Away With Killing Innocent Civilians (again). ... with attention more occupied than usual, some U.S. military operations have been escalating even further. In recent years, these conflicts have become even deadlier for innocent people. The Trump administration has shown itself to be not just indifferent, but positively encouraging of the killing of civilians in foreign wars. Intercept .

When Undocumented Activists Infiltrated ICE
A conversation with directors Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera about their film, The Infiltrators. The Nation

The real Lord of the Flies: what happened when six boys were shipwrecked for 15 months Guardian

Are Trump and the Anti-Lockdown Militias Itching for Violence? Intercept

US blocks vote on UN's bid for global ceasefire over reference to WHO. ... Security council had spent weeks seeking resolution but Trump administration opposed mention of organization. Guardian

New York State Tries to Suspend Democracy; NYT and WaPo Shrug. ... Blaming health risks due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the New York State Board of Elections announced last week that the state would simply cancel its Democratic presidential primary, leaving former Vice President Joe Biden to be proclaimed the victor without a vote. FAIR

Brazil’s President Speaks Next to an Israeli Flag at Anti-democratic Rally, Confusing and Angering Jews. ... Bolsonaro is a right-wing strongman who is a passionate advocate of Israel and counts on massive Evangelical Christian support. Haaretz

Maj. Danny: Eugene Debs and the Age of Corona. ... In this pandemic-era, it has become increasingly clear that we are only as healthy as the least insured -- hence the poorest -- in our society. Scheer Post

Despite Skyrocketing Unemployment, Tennessee Valley Authority Plans to Outsource Hundreds Of Federal Jobs to Overseas Companies. Intercept

Henry A. Giroux: It Is Impossible to Be Radical Without Being Optimistic in the Pandemic Age. TruthOut

Progressive Group Denounces Roberts' Refusal to Investigate Federal Judge's Retirement. ... Demand Justice accused Roberts of "covering up Mitch McConnell's court-packing project." CommonDreams

MAY 12, 2020 - COVID-19 NEWS
Nature Bats Last

Navajo Nation Now Has More Known COVID-19 Cases Per Capita Than Any State. ... There have been at least 100 deaths on the country’s most populous American Indian reservation. HuffPost

Ohio Government Invites Employers to Secretly Report “Work Refusal” Due to Coronavirus. Intercept

Will Covid-19 mutate into a more dangerous virus? ...What do we know about the way coronavirus is evolving? Guardian

Trump Declares COVID-19 Will Vanish ‘Without A Vaccine,’ Contradicting Experts. ... The president claims that’s what doctors say. They don’t. HuffPost

Plandemic: YouTube, Facebook and other platforms rush to remove viral conspiracy theory pushing baseless claims about coronavirus. Independent

Are People Getting Sick Staying Home Alone? That’s Not What a Misinterpreted Survey Said. FAIR

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MAY 25 THROUGH 31

WEEKEND OF MAY 29-31, 2020

Weekend Read: My Seditious Heart by Arundhati Roy. ... collects the work of a two-decade period when Arundhati Roy devoted herself to the political essay as a way of opening up space for justice, rights, and freedoms in an increasingly hostile environment.  Guardian book Review. Purchase from Haymarket Books

Noam Chomsky: Mutual Aid Is Rising -- and It’s Key to Our Survival. ... (Chomsky) discusses the continuing legacy of anarchism, from public misconceptions to how anarchism is embedded in groups doing on-the-ground work. TruthOut

Inside the Influential Evangelical Group Mobilizing to Reelect Trump. ... “The Covid virus has been a gift from God,” began Ken Eldred. “The kingdom of God advances through a series of glorious victories, cleverly disguised as disasters.” Intercept

Let’s Move On From Boris (Johnson). ... When a politician is desperate enough to use the “move on” slogan, you know they have done something very wrong indeed and are in big trouble. Craig Murray

ENVIRONMENT

Praising Emissions Reductions Due to Coronavirus Plays Into Right-Wing Strategy. TruthOut

Nearly 200 Groups in Canada Vow to Fight for Covid-19 Recovery That Puts Human and Ecological Health First. ... "The choices we make now about how to recover from this pandemic will shape not only our health and economic future, but also the future of human life on this planet." CommonDreams

The Need for EcoSocialism with Chris Hedges and Victor Wallis. Portable TV

As Fishermen Flounder, Trump Clears A Path For Farming The Oceans. ... Struggling commercial fishers and environmentalists say the White House is exploiting COVID-19 to privatize the ocean. HuffPost

Should Federal Public Lands be Prioritized for Renewable Energy Development? CounterPunch

EPA Gives Agribusiness Giant Syngenta a Pass on Pesticide Monitoring Due to Covid-19 Concerns. ITT

US lets corporations delay paying environmental fines amid pandemic. ... Ten companies that allegedly polluted air and water will not be required to pay penalties they agreed to before 1 June. Guardian

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“No Justification”: Minneapolis Demands Murder Charges for Police Officer Who Killed George Floyd. DemocracyNow

Media Smeared Ahmaud Arbery After His Lynching. ... First they kill your body. Then they kill your reputation. When white supremacy is the foundation of the US’s media, political, legal and corporate system, victims of racist violence are often killed twice in this way. FAIR

Hundreds of CUNY Adjuncts to be Fired and Lose Health Insurance: Interview with Laid-off Adjunct Professor of Africana Studies. ... Adjunct faculty at CUNY have been exploited for decades and now, in the midst of the pandemic, they are facing mass layoffs. We spoke to one such adjunct, Sami Disu, about the university’s response to the Covid-19 crisis and how they are fighting back. Left Voice

Is Stacey Abrams Progressive? (Ans. No-The Cynic) CounterPunch

Democrats are fueling a corporate counter-revolution against progressives. ... Democrats in Washington are not just passively failing to mount an opposition to Trump. They are actively helping Republicans Guardian

Congress is poised to pass far-reaching Israeli wish list. ... Congress is set to pass its most far-reaching bill related to Israel at the height of a national public health emergency. Mondoweiss

Annexation Echoes Trump and Netanyahu’s Shared Defiance of the Law and Disdain for Others. ... In the eyes of the world, the two rule-breaking and self-victimizing leaders are about to commit a crime Haaretz

Banal political figures like Mike Pompeo are far more dangerous to democracy than you think. ... The so-called ‘Madison dinners’ may indicate that the US secretary of state is no maniacal ideologue after all – but they do hint that he is unable, or unwilling, to distinguish between his personal interests and those of the public. Independent

Vietnam Criticized for Its First-Round Victory Over COVID-19. CounterPunch

Mike Pompeo is the number one evangelist of Trumpism in the world. ... When it comes to foreign policy, Pompeo’s penchant for undermining America’s credibility is top-notch. Guardian

‘We will simply disconnect’: Mike Pompeo and the Australian TV appearance that caused a diplomatic storm. ... A comment by the US secretary of state about Victoria’s belt and road project has ricocheted through Parliament House and the US embassy. Guardian

After mass shooting at Pensacola Naval Air Station, Saudis get another pass. ... For all the talk of a “deep state,” the Trump Administration’s response to the Saudi terror attack at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola was remarkably similar to that of an Administration many thought of as the “Deep State on Steroids” of President George W. Bush. MadCow

Life in Hell: Online Teaching. CounterPunch

There’s Only One Possible Conclusion: White America Likes Its Killer Cops. ... There’s a straight line connecting Derek Chauvin to Amy Cooper—and that line is white support of police violence. The Nation

WEEKEND OF MAY 29-31, 2020;
COVID-19 NEWS - NATURE BATS LAST

Right-Wing Radio Reaches Tens Of Millions. Its Coronavirus Conspiracies Are Out Of Control.
Talk radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh have spread wild misinformation about the virus as they defend Trump’s botched response to the pandemic. HuffPost

As US Death Toll Hits 100,000 People, Here's a Simple Guide to 12 Things Trump Did To Make Covid-19 Much Worse. ... The president's "chaotic and incompetent response has fueled the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S. and beyond, causing tens of thousands of preventable deaths." CommonDreams

US Media Failed to Factcheck Sweden’s Herd Immunity Hoax. FAIR

Why Britain's covid suffering is a crime against humanity. ... there has been an estimated excess death toll of more than 50,000 people, second only to the United States, with the highest deaths per million, in the world. John Pilger

43 Million Americans Are About to Lose Their Health Insurance Because of Our Employer-Based Health Care System. Jacobin

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MAY 28, 2020

We Need a Class War, Not a Culture War. Jacobin

From George Floyd to Chris Cooper: Ibram X. Kendi on “Racist Terror” Facing Black People in America. DemocracyNow

The Disenfranchiser: Donald Trump’s Attack on Voting Rights and the Threat to Native Sovereignty. Intercept Related: Mashpee Wampanoag protest Trump administration land ruling. MWT

WAR IS WHAT DEFINES US

Can Trump’s Art of the Arms Deal Get More Stupid? The Russians Are Loving It. ... Now that Trump reportedly is toying with the idea of resuming nuclear testing as well, the Kremlin intends to take full advantage of that harebrained idea. DailyBeast

Why Iran’s Fuel Tankers for Venezuela Are Sending Shudders Through Washington. ... Why the United States did not block the Iranian vessels does not have to do with Iran or Venezuela alone. It has to do with the presence of China behind both countries. CounterPunch

US threatens nuclear arms race ‘into oblivion’ as it kills another treaty and mulls bomb tests. ... The Trump administration continues to undermine global arms control and increase the threat of a nuclear weapons race with Russia and China. GrayZone

Trump: I Can and Will Start Wars Whenever I Please. FFF

What A Biden Presidency Could Mean For Defense. Aviation Week

Have We All Forgotten About the Iraq War? ... The Blowback podcast reaches deep into the memory hole and pulls the Iraq War back up into the sunlight. Jacobin

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Diane Ravitch on Pandemic School Privatization. FAIR

New PEN America Report Warns Surge of Anti-Protest Laws in Trump Era Is 'Danger to Expressive Rights of All'. ... "There has been a determined movement, occurring largely outside the public eye, to delegitimize public protest and paint demonstrators as dangerous or even criminal." CommonDreams

Demanding End to 'Failed Billionaire-Backed' Policies, 200+ Teachers and Activists Urge Biden to Go Bold on Public Education. ... "The public health and economic emergencies resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic have only made public education more vulnerable. It is no exaggeration to say that the future of public education itself is at stake." CommonDreams

Capitalism Isn’t Working. But What Would a Viable Socialist System Look Like? Jacobin

Teacher Wisdom: K-12 Students Cannot Return to Campus This Fall. ... Physical distancing at schools is impossible. Now is the time to prepare robust distance learning and close the technology gap. ScheerPost

Democrats are fueling a corporate counter-revolution against progressives. ... Democrats in Washington are not just passively failing to mount an opposition to Trump. They are actively helping Republicans. Guardian

The Secretive Police Commission The Justice Department Doesn’t Want You To Notice. ... PAR learns about life under lockdown with COVID-19 from a guest just released from 10 months of incarceration, and examines the secretive police commission created by Attorney General Barr. TRN

BBC Documentary Suggests Jesus Was A Buddhist Monk. Anonymous. Related: Jesus through Buddhist eyes. BBC

Trump praised for uniting America as Democrats and Republicans both agree that he should be allowed to put his life in danger. News Thump

MAY 28, 2020 - COVID-19 NEWS
Nature Bats Last

Stay Home, Stay Safe, Be Kind: What New Zealand Can Teach the World About Eliminating COVID-19. DemocracyNow

Despite the Hype, Gilead’s Remdesivir Will Do Nothing to End the Coronavirus Pandemic. Intercept

WHO Warns Of ‘Second Peak’ In Coronavirus Infections If Restrictions Lifted Too Soon. ... “We cannot make assumptions that just because the disease is on the way down now it is going to keep going down.” HuffPost

Ricardo Salvador on the Food System & Covid-19. FAIR

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MAY 27, 2020

Co-author of The Intercept Russiagate story that landed source in prison is now NYPD press officer. ... The Intercept published a story that landed Reality Winner in prison, burning its third source. That article was co-authored by Richard Esposito, an embedded police reporter who is now an NYPD spokesperson. GrayZone

Mnuchin Wants to Deny Unemployment to Workers Who Stay Home Due to COVID Risk. TruthOut

Assange Must Be Released To His Family. Popular Resistance

EASY MONEY

Criminogenic Politics as a Form of Psychosis in the Age of Trump. ...In its late stages, capitalism morphs into a form of neoliberal fascism. CounterPunch/Giroux

'How the Trump White House Sees You': Top Economic Adviser Under Fire for Calling Workers 'Human Capital Stock' CommonDreams

Corporate Immunity, Mitch McConnell’s Priority for Coronavirus Relief, Is a Longtime Focus of the Conservative Right. ... Senate Republicans’ top priority for the next relief bill, which would protect employers that face lawsuits if their workers get sick or die of Covid-19 on the job, Intercept

Why Barnard Castle. ... In 2012 GlaxoSmithKline were fined $3 billion for fraud, overcharging and making false claims about medicines in the USA. In 2016, GlaxoSmithKline were fined £37.6 million in the UK for bribing companies not to produce generic copies of their out of patent drugs, thus overcharging the NHS. ... Despite the fines, these frauds were still massively profitable for GlaxoSmithKline.
Craig Murray

Oil Companies Can Set Their Own Rates for Royalties From Drilling on Public Lands Thanks to Trump: Report... "Oil and gas corporations already pay pennies compared to what they make in profits from plundering public lands—land that belongs to the American people—and now they'll pay even less." CommonDreams

Why Germany’s Far Right Wants Judges to Rule Europe’s Monetary Policy. ... For all its populist hues, Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland began in 2012 as a “party of professors” insisting on ordoliberal dogmas. Today, the conservative business elites who fed its rise are again in the headlines, now for pushing German judges to block aid to Europe’s hardest-hit economies. Jacobin

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Apple whistleblower goes public over 'lack of action'. ... Thomas le Bonniec says firm violating rights and continues massive collection of data. Guardian

GOP Advances Judicial Nominee Who Called Affordable Care Act ‘Illegitimate’. ... Cory Wilson, who has also attacked abortion rights and LGBTQ rights, is up for a lifetime seat on a U.S. appeals court. HuffPost

Hong Kong crisis: China presents security laws banning subversion and separatism. ... China reveals details of sweeping law it plans to impose on Hong Kong, overriding territory’s constitution and prompting threat of US retaliation. Guardian  Related: Beijing Acts on Hong Kong. CounterPunch

Governments are Using COVID-19 Crisis to Crush Free Speech. ... The non-humans are journalists who criticise the Chechen authorities for mishandling their response to the Covid-19 epidemic. CounterPunch/Cockburn

How Obama Could Find Some Redemption. CounterPunch

An Old Story Again: Capitalism vs. Health and Safety. CounterPunch

How the Qataris conquered DC while you were sleeping. Responsible Statecraft

Arundhati Roy: Our Task is to Disable the Engine. ... Storied author and PI Council member Arundhati Roy on Covid-19 and the "super-surveillance" state. The coronavirus has brought the machine of capitalism to a grinding halt. Progressive International

China Proposes Law Cracking Down On Hong Kong Opposition Activity. ... Such a move has long been under consideration but was hastened by months of anti-government protests last year. HuffPost  Related: 'This is the end of Hong Kong': China pushes controversial security laws... Proposed legislation would effectively end one country, two systems status, say critic.  Guardian

‘I Can’t Breathe’: Man Dies After Minneapolis Police Officer Seen Kneeling On His Neck
Video captured by a bystander shows the officer pressing his knee into the neck of a Black man handcuffed on the ground. HuffPost

Russian journalists accuse NY Times of stealing stories that earned it Pulitzer Prize – for second time. ... The New York Times has apparently stolen its Pulitzer Prize-winning stories from Russian journalists – the same liberal anti-Putin reporters its correspondents have lionized. Gray Zone

MAY 27, 2020 - COVID-19 NEWS
Nature Bats Last

The Next Death Wave from Coronavirus Will Be the Poor, Rural and White. CounterPunch

Nearly 200 Groups in Canada Vow to Fight for Covid-19 Recovery That Puts Human and Ecological Health First. ... "The choices we make now about how to recover from this pandemic will shape not only our health and economic future, but also the future of human life on this planet." CommonDreams

The Banality of Evil, COVID-19 Edition. ... As the COVID-19 pandemic ran its deadly course in New York, governor Cuomo affirmed a state policy forbidding nursing homes to reject suffering from the disease. ... At least partially as a result (Cuomo himself acknowledged early on that the virus spreads through such facilities “like fire through dry grass”), nearly 6,000 long-term care residents have died so far. CounterPunch

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MAY 26, 2020

Still time to absentee vote in the primary. Keep in mind only Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians are allowed to vote - any other party affiliation can just go fuck themselves. Democracy, right??

Chomsky Says Trump a 'Sociopathic Megalomaniac' Who Made US 'Singularly Unprepared' for Pandemic. ... New comments from the renowned academic come after he accused Trump of wanting "to destroy the prospects for all organized human life... in the near future." CommonDreams

Noam Chomsky on Trump’s Disastrous Coronavirus Response, WHO, China, Gaza and Global Capitalism. DemocracyNow

The CIA’s Murderous Practices, Disinformation Campaigns, and Interference in Other Countries Still Shape the World Order and U.S. Politics. Intercept

ENVIRONMENT

As Fishermen Flounder, Trump Clears A Path For Farming The Oceans. ... Struggling commercial fishers and environmentalists say the White House is exploiting COVID-19 to privatize the ocean. HuffPost

Methane and the sustainability of ruminant livestock. ... The environmental sustainability of our food production methods, and what kinds of agricultural systems might be compatible with keeping global warming below internationally agreed upon limits, are key topics for sustainable food systems research and policy. Food Source

Trump’s EPA Wants to Weaken Science-Based Rules for Toxic Air Pollutants. ... Despite its volatility and toxicity, ethylene oxide is used ubiquitously in all sorts of industrial processes, from the manufacture of ethylene glycol — which is used to make antifreeze, among other products — to the fumigation of agricultural products and the sterilization of medical equipment. TruthOut

Brazil’s Far-Right Government Seizes On Pandemic To Gut Environmental Protections. ... South America’s biggest nation is following the U.S. playbook on dismissing the coronavirus threat -- and using it to force through an unpopular agenda. HuffPost

Palm Oil Is In Half Of Your Groceries And Destroys Forests. Can We Fix That? ... This was supposed to be the big year for transforming the palm oil industry and ending its environmental toll. HuffPost

Massive Logging Putsch Planned for Wyoming’s Medicine Bow Forest. CounterPunch

Grizzlies, Lynx, Bull Trout and Elk on the Chopping Block for Trump’s Idaho Clearcuts. CounterPunch

Saving the Lionhead Wildernes. CounterPunch

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Judge Rules That Attorney Steven Donziger (who took on Chevron enviromental issues) Must Remain Under House Arrest Until September. .. confined to his apartment with an electronic ankle monitor, will have spent 13 months in home detention awaiting trial on charges that carry a maximum sentence of six months.Intercept

Emails Show SBA Liaison Sharing Resumes with the White House Official Spearheading Trump’s Loyalty Purges. American Oversignt

All in the Trump family: meet the president’s surrogates and strategists. ... The president’s children and their partners play important roles in his re-election campaign, rallying his base and trashing opponents. Guardian

GOP 'Plot to Gut Social Security Behind Closed Doors' Gains Steam in Senate Covid-19 Talks. ... "With seniors most at risk from Covid-19, we need to be increasing Social Security's modest benefits, not creating secret commissions to cut them." CommonDreams  Related: Inside the Latest Plan to “Bankrupt” and Privatize Social Security. ... Trump’s motivation behind a payroll tax holiday is not to help families through this crisis, but to set the stage for devastating cuts to Medicare and Social Security. And Democrats might end up helping him. Jacobin

Workers Face “Sophie’s Choice” Between Income & Health as 50 States Reopen Amid Pandemic. DemocracyNow

While Pushing for Corporate Legal Immunity, McConnell Vows to Block Extension of Boosted Unemployment Benefits. ... "Cutting back federal assistance at the height of the crisis would mean self-inflicted disaster, devastation, and additional deaths. That must not happen." CommonDreams

There Is No Writer Quite Like Arundhati Roy. Jacobin

Co-author of The Intercept Russiagate story that landed source in prison is now NYPD press officer. Gray Zone

MAY 26, 2020 - COVID-19 NEWS
Nature Bats Last

The Next Death Wave from Coronavirus Will Be the Poor, Rural and White. CounterPunch

Why Barnard Castle. ... In 2012 GlaxoSmithKline were fined $3 billion for fraud, overcharging and making false claims about medicines in the USA. In 2016, GlaxoSmithKline were fined £37.6 million in the UK for bribing companies not to produce generic copies of their out of patent drugs, thus overcharging the NHS. ... Despite the fines, these frauds were still massively profitable for GlaxoSmithKline. Craig Murray

Will Covid-19 mutate into a more dangerous virus?. ... What do we know about the way coronavirus is evolving? Guardian

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MAY 25, 2020

It’s Time for a Robot Tax. CounterPunch

Is Bill Barr the Most Dangerous Member of the Trump Administration? Intercept

Trump Says Mailing In Your Ballot Is Corrupt, Unless You’re Trump. ... The president repeated his baseless conspiracy theory that voting by mail leads to election fraud. HuffPost  Related: Trump backtracks on mail-in voting after false election fraud accusations. ... President quips he would like to blast reporters into outer space. Independent

EASY MONEY

McDonalds in Denmark, they pay their unionized workers twice as much as U.S. workers with long paid vacations and benefits, because they have to. In the USA they strip-mine their unorganized workers, because they can. In both countries, McD’s makes profits.”

Screen New Deal ... Under Cover of Mass Death, Andrew Cuomo Calls in the Billionaires to Build a High-Tech Dystopia. Intercept

Law Firms Plan to Sue Governments for Profits Lost Due to Pandemic Measures. ... Over the past few weeks, law firms specialising in arbitration have presented the unfolding global crisis as “a chance to revolutionize arbitration and boost and strengthen its virtues” and “the beginning of a boom”. Lawyers and investors are well aware that past crises – like Argentina’s economic collapse of 2001, the Arab spring of 2011, or the global financial crash of 2008 – have provided opportunities to sue states, and therefore predict that “it is almost certain that such instability and uncertainty will result in a growth in the number and types of disputes”. TruthOut

Jeff Bezos Shouldn’t Be a Billionaire, Much Less a Trillionaire. ... Jeff Bezos is reportedly on pace to be the world’s first trillionaire. That’s a grotesque indictment of our society — and the only way to change it is to organize Amazon workers to wrest back the extraordinary power and wealth that Bezos is hoarding. Jacobin

Australian Government Economy Explained. PSA By Office of Class Warfare and Neoliberal Shitfuckery. YouTube

The Jungle and the Pandemic: The Meat Industry, Coronavirus, and an Economy in Crisis. Intercept

The Fed’s Chair and Vice Chair Got Rich at Carlyle Group, a Private Equity Fund With a String of Bankruptcies and Job Losses. CounterPunch

Underscoring 'Grotesque Nature of Unequal Sacrifice,' Richest Americans Have Added $434 Billion in Wealth Since Pandemic Hit. ... "While millions risk their lives and livelihoods as first responders and frontline workers, these billionaires benefit from an economy and tax system that is wired to funnel wealth to the top." CommonDreams

Follow the Money, Discover the Stench. ... There is talk - just talk so far - about canceling some of the massive, totally unnecessary death culture abundance. But just how much we even spend on it is 'classified.' ScheerPost

House Democrats’ HEROES Act Is a Huge Giveaway to the Rich. Jacobin

Pyramid scheme fraud suit against Trump and his family to go ahead. ... The family is accused of fraud and false advertising of a multilevel marketing company. Independent

'Ticking Time Bomb': Corporate Lawyers Openly Discussing Suing Nations Over Profits Lost to Covid-19 Measures. ... "It's so unbelievably shocking to see corporate lawyers actively discussing having foreign investors use ISDS to challenge countries over their coronavirus lockdown measures, and try to extract 'expected future profits' from them." CommonDreams

Barons of the Valley. ... The tycoons of Big Tech are following in the footsteps of their Gilded Age predecessors, using a facade of social concern to cover over their depredations. We need to depose the new Robber Barons. Jacobin

Company Wins $1.28 Billion Wall Contract After Wooing Trump On Fox News. .. Fisher Sand and Gravel won another $400 million bid to build part of the border wall last year, although that contract is being audited by the Pentagon. HuffPost

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Trump’s COVID-19 Disinformation Campaign Is a Preview of the 2020 Elections. TruthOut

Sanders Campaign Asks Delegates To Sign Pledge They Won’t Openly Attack Biden
“Our job is to differentiate the senator from his opponents on the issues — not through personal attacks,” an agreement sent to delegates says. HuffPost

"He Doesn't Want You to Vote": Trump Threatens to Block Funding to Michigan for Sending Absentee Ballot Forms to All Voters Amid Covid-19. ... "Blackmailing states to prevent them from holding a fair election in November." CommonDreams  Related: Think Trump and Republicans Wouldn't Try to Cancel an Election? Look at What GOP in Georgia Just Pulled Off. ... "Having NO election is rigging an election." CommonDreams

Inside the Influential Evangelical Group Mobilizing to Reelect Trump. ... “The Covid virus has been a gift from God,” began Ken Eldred. “The kingdom of God advances through a series of glorious victories, cleverly disguised as disasters.” Intercept

Another Trump con: Now he's cheating frontline workers and National Guard troops. ... Trump is shortchanging frontline workers and denying benefits to National Guard troops. Why is anyone surprised? Salon

Study: White Supremacist Groups Are ‘Thriving’ On Facebook, Despite Extremist Ban. ... With many Americans vulnerable to fascist ideologies during the pandemic, the study warns, Facebook could be fertile ground for recruitment. HuffPost

If Trump Wins Again, Don’t Blame Progressives. ... The corporate conservatives who control the Democratic Party are suffering from cheaters’ remorse. CounterPunch

MAY 25, 2020 - COVID-19 NEWS
Nature Bats Last

About 28% of veterans who were given hydroxychloroquine plus usual care died compared to only 11% of those getting routine care alone. One of the side effects can be "paranoia, hallucinations and psychosis".

Reminder - early May the White House is relying in part on a so-called "cubic model" devised by Kevin Hassett, a top economic adviser, that shows COVID-19 deaths plummeting to zero by mid-May. Business Insider

America begins to unlock for summer – but is it inviting a disastrous second wave? Guardian

Exclusive: US has three months to rebuild medical supplies stockpile, Obama administration scientists warn. ... A seven-page report from the former president’s science advisers is an implicit criticism of Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic. Guardian

COVID Deaths in US Approach 100,000 as Trump Administration Misleads Public. TruthOut

'All the psychoses of US history': how America is victim-blaming the coronavirus dead. ... As racism warps the US pandemic response, a health crisis has escalated into a culture war. Guardian

Over 4,300 Coronavirus Patients Sent To New York Nursing Homes: AP. ... The COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals to already vulnerable. HuffPost

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