2020-04-08: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these ‘POSTEES’ on social media!

U.S. activates new phase of violence against Venezuela
| workers.org | 2020-04-09
The U.S accuses Venezuelan President Maduro of “narcoterrorism” but the people defend him. The Platform of Venezuelan Social Movements Against the Blockade issued the following statement on March 26. To the People of the World and Friends of the Bolivarian Revolution In the midst of the most recent attacks of . . . | Continue reading U.S. activates new phase of violence against Venezuela at Workers.org
workers.org/2020/04/47585/?utm_source=rs…

Haiti faces a coronavirus catastrophe
G. Dunkel | workers.org | 2020-04-09
The predictions are grim, and the figures are totally misleading: As of April 5, 6 p.m., Haiti reported only 21 COVID-19 cases and one death. The Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, reported 1,745 cases and 52 deaths. (worldometers.info/coronavirus/) Haiti has only 130 ICU beds. Dr. . . . | Continue reading Haiti faces a coronavirus catastrophe at Workers.org
workers.org/2020/04/47582/?utm_source=rs…

Grim stability: US records almost 2,000 Covid-19 fatalities for 2nd day in a row, as death toll closes in on 15,000
rt.com | 2020-04-09
With models predicting that the US is nearly at the peak of its Covid-19 death rate, the country reported almost 2,000 deaths on Wednesday, about the same number as the day prior. The US accounts for about a third of all cases. | …
rt.com/usa/485341-coronavirus-death-toll…

Bolsonaro says experimental Covid-19 drug could save “thousands of lives” & thanks India for approving exports of raw ingredients
rt.com | 2020-04-09
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has thanked Indian PM Narendra Modi after New Delhi gave the nod to continue exporting ingredients for hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), stressing that the drug could save thousands of lives. | After a series of requests to the Indian leader to allow exports of HCQ

OPCW points finger at Syrian government for 2017 chemical attacks amid whistleblowers scandal
rt.com | 2020-04-09
The OPCW has issued its first report explicitly blaming Syria’s government for chemical attacks on civilians, pointing to three incidents in 2017 and saying there’re “reasonable grounds” to believe the air force was responsible. | “Attacks of such a strategic nature would have only taken place on the basis of orders from the higher authorities of the Syrian Arab Republic military command,” Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) coordinator Santiago Oñate-Laborde said. In the end…
rt.com/news/485314-opcw-report-syria-che…

VIDEO: Springtime snow surprises Razavi Khorasan
en.mehrnews.com | 2020-04-09
TEHRAN, Apr. 09 (MNA)

Migrants in detention in Texas face COVID-19
Mirinda Crissman | workers.org | 2020-04-08
Austin, Texas Migrants being held in detention in Texas have been facing abhorrent sanitary conditions in the detention facilities long before the coronavirus pandemic began. Now that the virus is here, and threatens to infect such a vulnerable and captive population at higher rates than the general population, many migrants . . . | Continue reading Migrants in detention in Texas face COVID-19 at Workers.org
workers.org/2020/04/47542/?utm_source=rs…

Migrants in detention in Texas face COVID-19
Mirinda Crissman | workers.org | 2020-04-08
Austin, Texas Migrants being held in detention in Texas have been facing abhorrent sanitary conditions in the detention facilities long before the coronavirus pandemic began. Now that the virus is here, and threatens to infect such a vulnerable and captive population at higher rates than the general population, many migrants . . . | Continue reading Migrants in detention in Texas face COVID-19 at Workers.org
workers.org/2020/04/47542/?utm_source=rs…

COVID-19 Coronavirus “Fake” Pandemic: Timeline and Analysis
Prof Michel Chossudovsky | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-08
On January 30, a far-reaching decision was taken by the WHO without the support of expert opinion at a time when the coronavirus outbreak was limited to Mainland China. 150 confirmed cases outside China, when the decision was taken, 6 in the US, 3 in Canada, 2 in the UK, etc. In early March, 430 cases in the US.
globalresearch.ca/ncov-2019-coronavirus-…

After the Lockdown: A Global Coronavirus Vaccination Program
Prof Michel Chossudovsky | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-08
The tendency is towards a Worldwide lockdown spearheaded by fear and media disinformation. Currently, hundreds of millions of people Worldwide are under lockdown. | What is the next step in the evolution of the COV-19 Crisis? A multibillion dollar coronavirus vaccination program to be implemented in the wake of the Lockdown.
globalresearch.ca/after-the-lockdown-a-g…

Open Letter to Condemn Trump Administration’s Hypocritical Indictment on Drug Charges of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and High-Ranking Venezuelan Officials
Alliance for Global Justice | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-08
We, the undersigned organizations and prominent individuals, condemn the false claims of criminal charges by the US government against the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and other high-ranking officials with the pretext of their alleged involvement in international …
globalresearch.ca/open-letter-condemn-tr…

COVID-19 in Democratic Republic of the Congo (CRC): Hoping for the Best, Preparing for the Worst
Dr. Jean-Claude Maswana | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-08
This week I spoke to Congolese native Jean-Claude Maswana, economics professor at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, about COVID-19 in DRC. | ANN GARRISON: Jean-Claude, reporting on your homeland, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is always daunting. It’s not …
globalresearch.ca/covid-19-drc-hoping-be…

Vindictive court rulings prove British state wants Assange dead
wsws.org | 2020-04-08
Judge Vanessa Baraitser has decreed that Assange will remain behind bars and that his extradition show-trial will proceed in May, even as the coronavirus pandemic spreads rapidly in British prisons.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/08/pers…

Sanctions or solidarity
Sara Flounders | workers.org | 2020-04-08
A pandemic by its very nature needs a global response. It can only be addressed with a high level of intense cooperation and social mobilization. Every form of scientific and technological cooperation is urgently needed. The U.S. is the center of an empire built on and dominated by capitalist expropriation . . . | Continue reading Sanctions or solidarity at Workers.org
workers.org/2020/04/47580/?utm_source=rs…

Biden Says He ‘Doesn’t Have Enough Information’ on Iran to Have a View
Robert Fisk | zcomm.org | 2020-04-08
How Odd, He Negotiated the Nuclear Deal…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/biden-says-he-does…

Julian Assange and Lockdown Injustice
Dr. Binoy Kampmark | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-08
Scribes covering the Julian Assange case must surely gawk with a sense of horrified wonder at each proceeding unfolding at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London. Assange is in a battle that can only be described as titanic, seeking to …
globalresearch.ca/julian-assange-lockdow…

Corporate Buybacks Artificially Inflated Stock Prices to Bubble Levels
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-08
For many years on Wall Street, stock prices and true valuations diverged sharply

Prisons: Breeding Grounds for Disease. Julian Assange’s Life in Danger
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-08
The US gulag prison system is the world’s largest by far, the largely unreported in the mainstream shame of the nation. | Official numbers significantly understate the true number of incarcerated inmates annually. | According to a Prison Policy Initiative analysis, nearly …
globalresearch.ca/prisons-breeding-groun…

UK- Australia COVID-19 Deaths, Deprivation Deaths in Developing Countries, Indigenous Avoidable Deaths
Gideon Polya | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-08
We are all shocked by the Covid-19-related carnage in Western Europe and the US in particular and fervently hope for an early end to the disaster. However it is timely to note huge avoidable deaths from deprivation in the Developing …
globalresearch.ca/uk-australian-covid-19…

Julian Assange and Lockdown Injustice
Binoy Kampmark | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-04-08
Scribes of the Julian Assange case must surely gawk with a sense of horrified wonder at each proceeding unfolding at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London. Assange is in a battle that can only be described as titanic, seeking to avoid the clutches of the US Justice Department, not to mention its legal system, and …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/04/julian-assang…

Life in Gaza: Dispatches From Palestine on COVID-19
Asmaa Tayeh | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-08
Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) is releasing a series of dispatches from Palestinians and Palestine solidarity activists reflecting on life in Gaza and the West Bank under the COVID-19 pandemic. As the world grapples with the outbreak, and as we organize …
globalresearch.ca/dispatches-palestine-c…

Brazil and COVID-19: Favela Residents and Indigenous Communities Among Those Most at Risk
Jake Johnston | cepr.net | 2020-04-08
As of noon on April 8th the total number of Covid-19 positive cases reported by Brazil’s health ministry exceeded 14,000 and the number of deaths exceeded 700. This is, by far, the highest number of reported cases in Latin America (though Ecuador has a greater number of reported cases and deaths on a per capita …
cepr.net/brazil-favela-residents-and-ind…

‘Collateral Murder’ and the My Lai Massacre
Joe Lauria | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-08
To gauge the transformation in the response by the U.S. military, the mainstream media and the public to a U.S. war crime, one need only compare the reactions to two of the most heinous American crimes: the 1968 My Lai …
globalresearch.ca/collateral-murder-my-l…

Many Immigrant Doctors Want to Fight Coronavirus in U.S
Sharon Lerner | zcomm.org | 2020-04-08
Visa Rules Make That Illegal…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/many-immigrant-doc…

This is Not a Drill: LIVE, Hosted by Organizing Upgrade
Staff | therealnews.com | 2020-04-08
Now is the time to move beyond demands to strategy. Join us for the next episode of This is Not a Drill: LIVE as we talk 2020 political and electoral strategy in the face of a global pandemic. Hosts Adam Gold and Rishi Awatramani are joined by an all-star guest line-up of Vijay Prashad, Phillip…
therealnews.com/stories/this-is-not-a-dr…

Deaths of Inequality
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez | zcomm.org | 2020-04-08
Black and Latinx Communities at Epicenter of Epicenter of the Pandemic…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/deaths-of-inequali…

Martin Khor: The Making of a Global Activist
Walden Bello | zcomm.org | 2020-04-08
The late Martin Khor united activists, officials, and thought leaders against trade and climate policies that plundered the Global South. Here’s how his comrades remember him…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/martin-khor-the-ma…

Google’s Dystopian Crisis Tracking Could Be Straight out of George Orwell’s 1984
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-04-08
Google’s move is merely the latest in a long line linking big tech companies ever more closely with the government and the security state.
mintpressnews.com/google-coronavirus-tra…

The Media’s Loudest #MeToo Champions Are Ignoring Biden Sexual Assault Accuser Tara Reade
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-04-08
The silence from the media’s loudest #MeToo champions has been deafening. There has been exactly zero coverage of sexual allegations against Joe Biden on CNBC, CNN, MSNBC, ABC or CBS. Likewise, The New York Times and USA Today and have failed to discuss it.
mintpressnews.com/media-metoo-champions-…

The Coronavirus Pandemic, Like Other Global Catastrophes, Reveals the Limitations of Nationalism
Lawrence Wittner | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-04-08
We live with a profound paradox. Our lives are powerfully affected by worldwide economic, communications, transportation, food supply, and entertainment systems. Yet we continue an outdated faith in the nation-state, with all the divisiveness, competition, and helplessness that faith produces when dealing with planetary problems. As we have seen in recent weeks, the coronavirus, like …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/04/the-coronavir…

As Washington Privatized Pandemic Preparation, the National Security State Left Americans Defenseless Against Coronavirus
Gareth Porter | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-08
Responsibility for pandemic preparation was privatized under the Obama and Trump administrations. It’s time to face down the national security state that wasted trillions on imperial wars and abandoned Americans to fight coronavirus alone. | *** | Donald Trump’s failure to …
globalresearch.ca/washington-privatized-…

Bernie Sanders Suspends Campaign for 2020 Presidency
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-08
U.S. Senator Bernie Sander of Vermont announced on Wednesday that he was suspending his campaign for the 2020 presidential elections, marking the second time in eight years that he has done so. | RELATED: | COVID-19 Reminds Us We Need a Gov’t Working for All: Sanders | In an announcement via livestream, the U.S. politician informed his supporters of his decision to suspend his campaign for the Democratic ticket to the 2020 presidential elections against Republic candidate and curre…
telesurenglish.net/news/Bernie-Sanders-S…

Bernie Sanders Drops Out of Presidential Race
Staff | therealnews.com | 2020-04-08
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is suspending his presidential campaign. Sanders’ campaign–which had embraced taking on the Democratic party establishment and taxing the wealthy to fund social programs like universal healthcare–struggled after former Vice President Joe Biden’s decisive victory on Super Tuesday, and after suspending virtually all in-person campaigning in the coronavirus pandemic. Even though Sanders…
therealnews.com/stories/sen-bernie-sande…

Stir Crazy! Episode #9: Coronavirus casualty of the day: Sanders’ campaign
Staff | therealnews.com | 2020-04-08
Episode #9 of Stir Crazy, on The Real News Network. Today we’re talking about the latest casualty: The Bernie Sanders campaign. Also on the show: Marcus Ferrell, one of our favorite political consultants, along with Jaisal Noor and Marc Steiner, Real News correspondents, and TRNN’s own, Kim Brown.
therealnews.com/stories/stir-crazy-episo…

Bernie Sanders Drops Out of the 2020 Presidential Race
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-08
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is suspending his bid for the Democratic Party’s nomination for president. | The news of his departure from the race clears the path for former Vice President Joe Biden to win the nomination, and to run against President Donald Trump in November’s general election. | Sanders, in a message to his supporters on social media, thanked those who backed his campaign. | “I want to express to each of you my deep gratitude for helping to create an unprecedented grassroots political campaign that…
truthout.org/articles/bernie-sanders-dro…

Bernie Sanders Drops Out of the 2020 Presidential Race
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-08
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is suspending his bid for the Democratic Party’s nomination for president. | The news of his departure from the race clears the path for former Vice President Joe Biden to win the nomination, and to run as the party’s official pick against President Donald Trump in November’s general election. | This is a developing story. Please check back for more information shortly.
truthout.org/articles/bernie-sanders-dro…

End the Shutdown; It’s Time for Resurrection!
Rep. Ron Paul | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-08
For many millions of Christians, Easter is a time to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Others may celebrate the arrival of spring and the promise of new life. Whatever one’s beliefs, after several weeks of mandatory “stay at home” …
globalresearch.ca/end-shutdown-time-resu…

The Green New Deal and the State: Lessons from World War II–Part I
Martin Hart-Landsberg | mronline.org | 2020-04-08
There is growing interest in a Green New Deal, but far too little discussion among supporters about the challenging nature of the required economic transformation, the necessary role of public planning and ownership in shaping it, or the strategies necessary to institutionalize a strong worker-community voice in the process and final outcome.
mronline.org/2020/04/08/the-green-new-de…

Billionaire “Job Creators” and the Keyboard Revolutionaries Who Enable Their Candidates
Michael K. Smith | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-04-08
Capitalism’s “invisible hand” gives us the middle finger with ever more contempt these days. With the national unemployment rate soaring to Depression-era levels and beyond, the self-proclaimed “job creators” of our glorious free-market paradise are now drowning in gluttonous excess from sucking the tit of the “Nanny State” they allegedly abhor. While workers are prohibited …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/04/billionaire-j…

When “Moderate” Democrats Lead the Ticket and Win, Down-Ballot Candidates Soon Suffer Losses
Rick Baum | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-08
Many mainstream Democrats claim if “democratic socialist” Sanders were their party’s presidential nominee, many party candidates running in down-ballot races would lose in races they should win. They warn that a Sanders’ led ticket could result in the Democrats not regaining control of the Senate and even losing their majority in the House along with…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/08/when-moderat…

Montana Ballot Access Decision Suppresses Green Party Voters
Steve Kelly | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-08
In 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court held that unequal distribution requirements for statewide petitions violate the Fourteenth Amendment. Again in 1970, citing the 1969 Illinois case, the SCOTUS struck down New York’s distribution requirements. Distribution requirements give voters in some geographical areas more power than voters residing in other areas in blatant disregard for a…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/08/montana-ball…

The Arab World Flounders in the Face of the Coronavirus Crisis
Ramzy Baroud | mintpressnews.com | 2020-04-08
While the Coronavirus continues to ravage almost every nation on earth, Arab countries remain unable, or unwilling, to formulate a collective strategy to help the poorest and most vulnerable Arabs survive the deadly virus and its economic fallout. | Worse, amid growing international solidarity, we are yet to see a pan-Arab initiative that aims to provide material support to countries and regions that have been hit hardest by the COVID-19 disease. | The lack of collective Arab responsiveness is not unique as it mirrors Europe’s own systematic failure, exhibiting ‘solidarity’ when it is financially convenient, and…
mintpressnews.com/coronavirus-crisis-mid…

US deal with Taliban breaks down while coronavirus spreads in Afghanistan
wsws.org | 2020-04-08
The Taliban has withdrawn from talks with the crisis-ridden Kabul regime over its failure to act on a prisoner release agreement brokered by Washington.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/08/afgh…

More People Might Die Because Wisconsin GOP Forced Election
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-08
Lines stretching city blocks, hours-long waits and polling officials in hazmat suits. That’s the scene voters in Wisconsin encountered as they braved the polls Tuesday amid the coronavirus pandemic. Despite growing outcry about the risks to public health and safety that in-person voting would pose, on Monday the state Supreme Court blocked Democratic Governor Tony Evers’s ruling to delay the election until June. At least 92 people in Wisconsin have died from exposure to COVID-19. In Milwaukee

The Cruel Truth Behind Wisconsin’s Uncancelled Election
Bill Lueders | progressive.org | 2020-04-08
State Republicans exploited the coronavirus crisis in an effort to elect a state Supreme Court candidate who objects to the idea of government helping people in need.
progressive.org/dispatches/cruel-truth-w…

The working class is striking for safety
Martha Grevatt | workers.org | 2020-04-08
GE workers demand company recall laid-off workers to build ventilators. Whether they are organizing walkouts, sick-outs or sit-ins, workers in a whole range of so-called “essential” occupations are in a life-and-death fight against dangerous working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. From shopping to heavy industry Actions include gig workers, like . . . | Continue reading The working class is striking for safety at Workers.org
workers.org/2020/04/47574/?utm_source=rs…

Tens of Millions Will Be Pushed into Poverty Amid COVID-Induced Recession
Jake Johnston | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-08
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has lowered regional GDP growth projections from positive 1.3 percent to negative 1.8 percent in light of the global COVID-19 pandemic. ECLAC projects that, with such a growth rate, poverty and extreme poverty will increase by 34 million and 23.3 million, respectively. In an op-ed,…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/08/tens-of-mill…

BlackRock Takes Command
Joyce Nelson | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-08
The mainstream financial press has been remarkably quiet about the Federal Reserve’s appointment (March 24) of BlackRock to manage its massive corporate debt purchase program in response to the Covid-19 crisis. That silence might have a simple explanation: you don’t slag your boss if you know what’s good for you. BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink may…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/08/blackrock-ta…

More People Died of Suicide Last Week in Tennessee Than COVID-19
Mac Slavo | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-08
As we previously warned, this pandemic will bankrupt and kill more people from suicide than the virus will. When you sacrifice people’s livelihoods, you create a difficult situation of desperation for many who will see no other way out. | We …
globalresearch.ca/more-people-died-of-su…

Thai government introduces lockdowns amid criticisms of its pandemic response
wsws.org | 2020-04-08
Within a month, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Thailand has leapt from a few dozen to over 2,000.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/08/thai…

How Vietnam contained the pandemic
Joshua Hanks | workers.org | 2020-04-08
The coronavirus pandemic has started to reveal stark differences in the emergency responses of countries all over the globe. The U.S. now has the most COVID-19 cases in the world after a slow and uncoordinated response by federal and state governments. Shortages of ventilators, ICU beds and personal protective equipment . . . | Continue reading How Vietnam contained the pandemic at Workers.org
workers.org/2020/04/47577/?utm_source=rs…

Our Schools Were Racist Before COVID-19. Here’s How They Could Get Worse
Rann Miller | progressive.org | 2020-04-08
After the pandemic, can we finally come to grips with the truth that America’s public education system harms black children?
progressive.org/public-school-shakedown/…

Amid Plague, Sanctions are Genocide
Eve Ottenberg | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-08
Sanctions have long been indefensible; now in the time of Covid-19, more so than ever. Nor are they some minor phenomena. Over a quarter of humanity lives under U.S. economic sanctions. That means millions of people lack untroubled access to food and medicines during a lethal pestilence. Thus in Iran, where the government fears millions of deaths from Covid-19, sanctions amount to genocide. Under ordinary circumstances, these embargoes are economic warfare. By putting Iran and Venezuela under economic siege even before the pandemic, the U.S. had murdered tens of thousands of those countries’ citizens. Yet most Am…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/08/amid-plague-…

Cuba has Reached Limited Local Transmission Stage of COVID-19
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-08
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermudez informed the island that they have entered the limited local transmission stage of the COVID-19. | RELATED: | Cuba Receives Medical Aid From China | According to the Cuban Health Minister, this stage report states “when cases are confirmed in which no link could be established with travelers from affected areas and are limited to small clusters in localities or institutions in the country.” | Currently, different municipalities spared in the country are under these circumstances: Consolació…
telesurenglish.net/news/cuba-in–covid19…

Slavoj ≈Ωi≈æek’s Virulent Polemic Against Covid-19, and Stuff!
John Kendall Hawkins | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-08
“I used to be Deleuzanal, but, now, I’m not Saussure.”

Grocery worker dies from COVID-19 infection in suburban Maryland
wsws.org | 2020-04-08
Grocery workers have been increasingly falling ill as the coronavirus spreads through the population.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/08/gian…

The African Union Defends WHO Against President Trump’s Attacks
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-08
The African Union Commission (AUC) Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat defended the World Health Organization (WHO) after President Donald Trump attacked this international agency. | RELATED: | Africa to Face the COVID-19 Pandemic Amid a Food Crisis | Mahamat said he was surprised by the campaign that the U.S. is implementing against WHO and its Director-General,…
telesurenglish.net/news/The-African-Unio…

The COVID-19 Catastrophe: A Global Platform to Take Legal Action against the WHO and Corrupt Governments
Jose Francisco Fernández-Bullón | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-08
Although there seems to be a passive acceptance by citizens of the measures imposed due to the fake coronavirus epidemic, this resignation is largely the consequence of the absence of leaders leading an effective resistance against the disguised coup d’état. …
globalresearch.ca/global-platform-sue-gl…

If you read one thing today about the NHS and coronavirus, make it this
Steve Topple | thecanary.co | 2020-04-08
An open letter published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) has given the starkest assessment yet of why the NHS is “extremely vulnerable” during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. It pulls no punches, laying blame at successive Tory-led governments’ doors. But one line hits the nail completely on the head. Because the authors say : The NHS has been run on the goodwill of its staff…
thecanary.co/discovery/analysis-discover…

Texas ban seeks to overturn legal abortion
Sue Davis | workers.org | 2020-04-08
April 7

People die as capitalists profit from pandemic crisis
| workers.org | 2020-04-08
By Lucy Cruz April 3

Exclusive: Cops Caught Making Baseless Arrest During COVID-19 Crisis
Staff | therealnews.com | 2020-04-08
TRNN caught cops on camera making arrests for a questionable charge, hauling a man off to jail that officials say is already infected with COVID-19.
therealnews.com/stories/exclusive-cops-c…

Michigan Prisons Are One Of The Fastest Growing COVID-19 Hot Spots
Staff | therealnews.com | 2020-04-08
Prisoners with the virus have been isolated with punitive solitary confinement measures. Symptomatic staff may still be working, raising the risk for a vulnerable prison population.
therealnews.com/stories/michigan-prisons…

Why Remdesivir and Hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19?
Manuel García, Jr. | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-08
Louis Proyect writes: “I understand the reluctance to put a plus where Trump does, but this article [“How New Jersey’s First Coronavirus Patient Survived,” in the New York Times, ~3 April 2020] indicates that a doctor who was close to death had a miraculous recovery after receiving Remdesivir and Hydroxychloroquine.” Remdesivir:…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/08/why-remdesiv…

Putin Believes that the Situation in Russia with the Coronavirus Is “Complicated but Not Hopeless”
Archyde | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-08
Russian President Vladimir Putin tried yesterday to inspire his fellow citizens by ensuring that the situation with the spread of Covid-19 in the country “is complicated, but not hopeless.” Putin held a new meeting by videoconference with members of the …
globalresearch.ca/putin-believes-situati…

Prisoners resist execution by virus
Gloria Rubac | workers.org | 2020-04-08
On a good day, most of the 5,000 prisons and jails in the U.S. are filthy hellholes. Medical care is seriously lacking and can be costly. Racism is ingrained in these institutions, and violence is often the order of the day. Right now, prisoners are terrified that as the COVID-19 . . . | Continue reading Prisoners resist execution by virus at Workers.org
workers.org/2020/04/47540/?utm_source=rs…

66,000 UK deaths projected by ‘Institute’ has 95 per cent ‘uncertainty’ value
graham | truepublica.org.uk | 2020-04-08
By TruePublica: There are many headlines in a range of national newspapers across the spectrum reporting that Britain could see as many as 66,000 COVID-19 deaths during the first wave of the current pandemic. This is new research published Tuesday (07/04), effectively making the outbreak in Britain by far the deadliest in Europe. In fact, …
truepublica.org.uk/united-kingdom/66000-uk-deaths-projected-by-institute-has-95-per-cent-uncertainty-value/

COVID-19: impact could see 195 million job losses, says ILO chief
news.un.org | 2020-04-08
The rapidly intensifying economic effects of COVID-19 on the world of work are proving to be far worse than the 2008-9 financial crisis, with cutbacks equivalent to nearly 200 million full-time workers expected in the next three months alone, the UN labour agency said.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/04/1…

COVID-19 Is Trump’s 9/11. Like Bush, He Was Warned and Didn’t Act
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-08
The cuckoo clock has died of shock | And the windows feel no pain | The air’s as still | As the throttle on a funeral train |

Video: How COVID-19 Death Certificates Are Being Manipulated. Montana Physician Dr. Annie Bukacek
Dr. Annie Bukacek | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-08
Dr. Annie Bukacek is a longtime Montana physician with over 30 years experience practicing medicine. Signing death certificates is a routine part of her job. | In this brief video, Dr. Bukacek blows the whistle on the way the CDC is …
globalresearch.ca/video-montana-physicia…

Housing Authority Restricts Donations To Public Housing As COVID-19 Increases Food Insecurity
Staff | therealnews.com | 2020-04-08
Baltimore City’s Housing Authority threatened Reverend Annie Chambers with eviction and arrest in an attempt to stop her from distributing food donations to her neighbors at the public housing community Douglass Homes last week.
therealnews.com/columns/housing-authorit…

The government’s list of coronavirus symptoms protects the economy over lives
Eliza Egret | thecanary.co | 2020-04-08
In our flat, we have been living with suspected coronavirus (Covid-19) symptoms for twenty days. Of course, we can’t be tested for it, so like many others in the UK, we can only assume that it is the virus that’s giving us our symptoms.But according to the NHS, it’s unlikely that I

Could COVID-19 Kill Capitalism?
Gary Leupp | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-08
This is not your normal zoonotic pandemic virus. That would be the famous Black Plague of 1348 spread by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. It arrived in northern Italy from the Crimean Peninsula, and eventually reached all of Europe, killing off a third of the population. Recent archeology suggests the same plague had struck southern Sweden…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/08/could-covid-…

China lifts lockdown in Wuhan city after more than two months
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-04-08
China lifted the 76-day lockdown of Wuhan city in Hubei province on April 8, Wednesday. Wuhan reported the first recorded case of the novel coronavirus infection last December, and was under lockdown since January 23. | The strict lockdown was imposed by officials as a step to curb the spread of the virus after the number of COVID-19 cases surged significantly in January. All commercial activity was halted and public transport suspended. People were not allowed to go out, with exemptions for essential services. Later, even essential services were provided at the doorstep in order to minimize the movement of peopl…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/04/08/china-lif…

Emergency COVID-19 Laws May Become Permanent Features of the Security Landscape
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-08
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to sweep the world, so too do radical new security measures implemented by governments in response to the global crisis. Ruling by decree, closing borders to refugees and instituting sweeping powers of detention and surveillance: In the context of the current panic, these policies may seem appropriate to some, their extremism justified by the extreme times in which we now live. | But amid this frenetic pace of change, key questions are being largely overl…
truthout.org/articles/emergency-covid-19…

Seven Disturbing Facts About COVID-19 in Louisiana
Bill Quigley | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-08
Virus Raging. Statewide Louisiana is second only to New York in deaths per 100,000 people with 582 reported as of April 7. Six parishes (counties) in the New Orleans area are in the top ten in deaths of all the counties in the nation: St. John the Baptist, Orleans, St. Charles, Jefferson, St. James and…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/08/seven-distur…

7 out of 10 Dead Patients Are Men in the European Countries
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-08
The World Health Organization (WHO) Wednesday reported that 75 percent of some 52,000 deaths from COVID-19 in Europe are male and a 95 percent were over 65 years of age. | RELATED: | Italy Reached the Peak of COVID-19 Infections | Many of the deceased had previous health problems that were complicated by contracting the coronavirus. Over 60 percent suffered from cardiovascular disease, 29 percent diabetes, and 21 percent kidney disease, the WHO regional director Hans Kluge said. | While the COV…
telesurenglish.net/news/7-out-of-10-Dead…

For sale: £45 billion of gov’t gilts (beating any month during 2008/9 crisis)
graham | truepublica.org.uk | 2020-04-08
By TruePublica: The Debt Management Office yesterday announced that from last Monday (6th April) it would be conducting additional gilt auctions in order to raise a total of £45 billion this month. This is more than previously planned as greater sums are needed to finance the Government’s interventions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. £45 …
truepublica.org.uk/united-kingdom/for-sale-45-billion-of-govt-gilts-beating-any-month-during-2008-9-crisis/

Amid Plague, Sanctions are Genocide
Eve Ottenberg | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-08
Sanctions have long been indefensible; now in the time of Covid-19, more so than ever. Nor are they some minor phenomena. Over a quarter of humanity lives under U.S. economic sanctions. That means millions of people lack untroubled access to food and medicines during a lethal pestilence. Thus in Iran, where the government fears millions of deaths from Covid-19, sanctions amount to genocide. Under ordinary circumstances, these embargoes are economic warfare. By putting Iran and Venezuela under economic siege even before the pandemic, the U.S. had murdered tens of thousands of those countries’ citizens. Yet most Am…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/08/amid-plague-…

Gratitude pours in for Imperial staff and students during COVID-19
imperial.ac.uk | 2020-04-08
Staff and students at Imperial College London have said a special thank you to colleagues and classmates during the COVID-19 outbreak.
imperial.ac.uk/news/196777/gratitude-pours-imperial-staff-students-during

Cuban doctors battle COVID-19 around the globe, defying U.S
Andrea Rodríguez | peoplesworld.org | 2020-04-08
peoplesworld.org/article/cuban-doctors-b…

Coronavirus Disease 2019 vs. the Flu
Lisa Lockerd Maragakis, M.D., M.P.H. | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-08
This comparative analysis by a prominent physician and scholar should reassure people. The media fear campaign tends to describe COV-19 as a dangerous and life threatening infection. | *** | Influenza (the flu) and COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus…
globalresearch.ca/coronavirus-disease-20…

The Other Americans: Central America on Lockdown Due to Coronavirus
Jeff Abbott | progressive.org | 2020-04-08
The region is considered one of the most ill-prepared to confront the COVID-19 pandemic.
progressive.org/covid-19/central-america…

Will Covid-19 spur a peoples’ bailout for the world’s poorest?
Adam Parsons | zcomm.org | 2020-04-08
The question is whether Covid-19 will awaken us to the stark inequalities of our world, or does it simply represent a new cause of impoverishment for the vast swathes of humanity who have long been disregarded by the public’s conscience?
zcomm.org/znetarticle/will-covid-19-spur…

New COVID-19 project will use the power of smartphones to search for treatments
imperial.ac.uk | 2020-04-08
Imperial researchers will look for potential new treatments for COVID-19 using the computing power of people’s smartphones.
imperial.ac.uk/news/196733/new-covid-19-project-will-power-smartphones

Health workers across Greece mark Day of Panhellenic Action for Health
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-04-08
Health workers under the banner of the Federation of Greek Hospital Doctors’ Associations (OENGE) demanded state support, including adequate funds, staff and resources, for the fight against COVID-19 in the country…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/04/08/health-wo…

Black People in Louisiana Account for 70 Percent of the State’s COVID-19 Deaths
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-08
Louisiana faces one of the worst outbreaks of the coronavirus in the United States. New data shows Black people account for 70% of all the state’s coronavirus deaths, though they comprise just 32% of the state’s population. Louisiana also has the highest incarceration rate in the country, and more than 65% of the people in its jails and prisons are Black. At least 28 people are infected, and 22 corrections staff have tested positive. State corrections officials are sending infected prisoners t…
truthout.org/video/black-people-in-louis…

Mexico: Violence Increases During COVID-19 Crisis
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-08
Residents of the Mexican rural region of Las Sabinas, in Nuevo Leon, set fire to a hospital to prevent it from accepting COVID-19 positive case-patients. | RELATED: | Mexico: Chiapas Natives Vulnerable to COVID-19 | Daniel González Garza, Las Sabinas’ mayor, declared, ” these were acts of vandalism that we condemn.” The functionary added: “They happened because of the news brought there by people on social networks, who don’t want the sick to come here, they’re afraid they’ll come here.” | Gon…
telesurenglish.net/news/mexico-violence-…

New Outbreak Might Happen in the Fall, Chinese Expert Says
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-08
Shanghai’s COVID-19 Clinical Expert Team director Zhang Wenhong warned of the high probability of a second international wave of infections occurring next fall. | RELATED: | China To Keep Supporting US in Fighting Epidemic: Spokesperson | “Europe and the U.S. have not been effectively controlled for the time being. In Africa, South America and India, where the economy is less developed and medical resources are insufficient, new cases have increased exponentially, which brings g…
telesurenglish.net/news/New-Outbreak-Mig…

COVID-19 Ravages Communities Marginalized By White Supremacy
Staff | therealnews.com | 2020-04-08
America’s legacy of white supremacy has marginalized Black communities with redlining, segregation, poverty, and lack of access. Combating the history of abuse and mistrust is key to surviving the COVID-19 pandemic.
therealnews.com/stories/coronavirus-risk…

Iran Says US Cannot Veto IMF Loan Request
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-08
An Iranian vice president said the United States cannot block Iran’s request for a 5 billion U.S. dollars’ loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for fighting the novel coronavirus, state TV reported Wednesday. | RELATED: | Iran Demands US End Their Oil Sanctions | Mohammad Nahavandian, Iran’s vice president for economic affairs, said that “no country in the IMF has the right to veto” the loan requests. | “The IMF policy should be fair in assessing and approving loan requests” for its membe…
telesurenglish.net/news/Iran-Says-US-Can…

Trump Was Warned of Potential “Cataclysmic” Pandemic as Early as Last November
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-08
In the middle of March, President Donald Trump claimed he and the rest of the federal government were caught off guard about the novel coronavirus, including its potential to spread outside of China and cause harm to other countries. | “Nobody knew there’d be a pandemic or an epidemic of this proportion,” Trump said on March 19. “Nobod…
truthout.org/articles/trump-was-warned-o…

US Media Downplay Overseas Coronavirus Lessons to Focus on Easter Bunny
Neil deMause | fair.org | 2020-04-08
Ardern’s Easter Bunny comments got the kind of widespread coverage that has largely been absent for an important piece of the pandemic puzzle: What can nations that are at the center of the second wave of the coronavirus outbreak, like the US and much of Europe, learn from those that were in the first wave, particularly China, South Korea and Hong Kong?>…
fair.org/home/us-media-downplay-overseas…

‘You Can Find Us in the Break Room’: How Nurses Got Masks
Elizabeth Lalasz | zcomm.org | 2020-04-08
It is critical for us to recognize we have power right now, even with the massive toll the pandemic is taking on us as frontline workers…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/you-can-find-us-in…

From heroes to pariahs: Colombia’s medical personnel discriminated over coronavirus paranoia
Adriaan Alsema | colombiareports.com | 2020-04-08
Doctors and nurses throughout Colombia are reporting discrimination as general fear over the coronavirus pandemic is turning some against medical personnel. The latest case was reported by a Cali pediatrician…
colombiareports.com/from-heroes-to-paria…

Aspirational vs Pragmatic: Why My Radicalness is Getting More Radical
Tom Crofton | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-08
Setting aside the pain and suffering of the infected for a moment, the most amazing part of the pandemic is its pulling back the curtain on the fragility and venality of the economic/political system in the “greatest country on earth”. Yah, sure. Some of those hybrid “planned economies” had better resources, and quicker responses, when…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/08/aspirational…

As pandemic rages in New York, new budget allows for massive cuts in social programs
wsws.org | 2020-04-08
The newly enacted New York state budget, regardless of its nominal contents, will inevitably lead to major attacks on the working class.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/08/nysb…

Coronavirus: The Great Geopolitical Leveller
Johanna Ross | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-08
Coronavirus is indiscriminate. We have seen young and old affected, rich and poor. In the UK alone, we have seen the Prime Minister himself succumb to it and even Prince Charles. But this pandemic has repercussions beyond our nation states…
globalresearch.ca/coronavirus-great-geop…

Africa’s refugees and internally displaced: The weakest link in the human chain
wsws.org | 2020-04-08
As the pandemic spreads to Africa, Asia and Latin America, the coronavirus will hit the world’s most vulnerable even harder.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/08/refu…

New York records worst death toll in pandemic, as 731 die in one day
wsws.org | 2020-04-08
The official figures must be considered substantial underestimates, since there has been a reported surge in people dying in their homes, rather than in hospital.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/08/nycv…

Postal workers at four UK depots take unofficial strike action over lack of safety measures
wsws.org | 2020-04-08
Weeks into the pandemic, postal workers are still not able to social distance and have a lack of personal protection equipment when out delivering mail.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/08/roya…

Black Wisconsin voters: Right-wing court order to hold election was voter suppression
Christina A. Cassidy, Gretchen Ehlke | peoplesworld.org | 2020-04-08
MILWAUKEE, Wis. (AP)–After going to sleep angry and afraid to vote, Xavier Thomas woke up on Election Day in Wisconsin thinking about how hard black people had to fight for the right to cast a ballot. He didn’t want to be deterred despite the coronavirus pandemic and the government’s failure to get him an absentee …
peoplesworld.org/article/black-wisconsin…

Senate Dems propose big pay hike for frontline anti-pandemic workers
Mark Gruenberg | peoplesworld.org | 2020-04-08
WASHINGTON–Senate Democrats’ plans for the next big economic stimulus bill include a big pay hike for frontline workers

The Coronavirus is stirring the impulse to communism
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-04-08
The Coronavirus pandemic has laid bare the most acute problems of our collective life, its main contradictions.
mronline.org/2020/04/08/the-coronavirus-…

Colombia’s hospitals unprepared for coronavirus, personnel working under threat: federation
Adriaan Alsema | colombiareports.com | 2020-04-08
Colombia’s hospitals are grossly unprepared to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. Medical personnel who have wanted to expose this have been threatened or fired, according to the country’s medical federation….
colombiareports.com/colombias-hospitals-…

Camus’ Plague, and Our Own
Ted Glick | zcomm.org | 2020-04-08
There are certainly plenty of people whose actions during this pandemic have been despicable. But they are vastly outnumbered by those who, during this difficult time, are performing admirably, some heroically…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/camus-plague-and-o…

Profiteers Plunder Hospitals, Then Line Up for Federal Subsidies
Karen Conner | cepr.net | 2020-04-08
As hospitals across the country face the massive demands of the new coronavirus, some are already depleted because of the shenanigans of Wall Street firms

Canada’s health minister promotes “herd immunity,” after admitting government’s coronavirus failure
wsws.org | 2020-04-08
Health Minister Hajdu acknowledged that if Canada’s hospitals lack vital equipment it is because the government has been “underfunding” healthcare “for decades.”
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/08/hajd…

US automakers planning return to work before coronavirus danger subsides
wsws.org | 2020-04-08
Automakers are planning a return to work that would endanger workers and their families.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/08/auto…

Coronavirus Spells the End of the Neoliberal Era. What’s Next?
Jeremy Lent | zcomm.org | 2020-04-08
Will the new era be a “Fortress Earth” or a harbinger of a transformed society based on a new set of values?>…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/coronavirus-spells…

Coronavirus as Metaphor: It’s Not Peanuts
Geoff Dutton | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-08
“No problem can be so complicated that it can’t be run away from.” ~ Linus, from Charles Schultz’s comic strip Peanuts One now sees people walking along streets masked, gloved, and occasionally gowned, as if on their way to a Halloween party. The unluckiest of them are zombies who don’t yet know that they are…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/08/coronavirus-…

David Nabarro tells business leaders lockdowns will likely be lifted by sector
imperial.ac.uk | 2020-04-08
Imperial academic David Nabarro told the world’s business leaders that the coronavirus lockdowns are likely to be lifted first by sector and region.
imperial.ac.uk/news/196796/david-nabarro-tells-business-leaders-lockdowns

Government deliberately misleading Colombia’s public on severity of coronavirus spread
Richard McColl | colombiareports.com | 2020-04-08
Colombia’s government has vastly understated the total number of people who have contracted the coronavirus, according to various sources including medical practitioners, the Inspector General and high-ranking members of the…
colombiareports.com/government-deliberat…

Coronavirus portal and an enterprising engineer: News from the College
imperial.ac.uk | 2020-04-08
Here’s a batch of fresh news and announcements from across Imperial.
imperial.ac.uk/news/196794/coronavirus-portal-enterprising-engineer-news-from

A Nurse Bought Protective Supplies for Colleagues. The Hospital Suspended Her
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-08
Olga Matievskaya and her fellow intensive care nurses at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in New Jersey were so desperate for gowns and masks to protect themselves from the coronavirus that they turned to the online fundraising site GoFundMe to raise money. | The donations flowed in

Bureaucrat: Stay Home and Starve
Kurt Nimmo | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-08
Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House “coronavirus response coordinator,” said on Saturday all plebs must stay out of grocery stores. She didn’t offer an alternative. Instead, she repeated the hand washing and 6-foot “social distancing” mantra. | “This is the | …
globalresearch.ca/bureaucrat-stay-home-s…

Epidemiologists launch new weekly forecast of coronavirus deaths
imperial.ac.uk | 2020-04-08
Epidemiologists at Imperial College London have launched a new weekly forecast of coronavirus deaths and transmissibility.
imperial.ac.uk/news/196797/epidemiologists-launch-weekly-forecast-coronavirus-deaths

Worker revolt spreads, demanding protections from coronavirus
wsws.org | 2020-04-08
Expanding layers of the working class throughout the world are being drawn into the struggle for lifesaving necessities.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/08/work…

Coronavirus as Metaphor: It’s Not Peanuts
Geoff Dutton | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-08
“No problem can be so complicated that it can’t be run away from.” ~ Linus, from Charles Schultz’s comic strip Peanuts One now sees people walking along streets masked, gloved, and occasionally gowned, as if on their way to a Halloween party. The unluckiest of them are zombies who don’t yet know that they are…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/08/coronavirus-…

Healthy and Unhealthy Fear in the Age of Coronavirus
Kim C. Domenico | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-08
Perhaps because I have so much of it, I am fascinated by the subject of fear. One part of me, the “scaredy-cat” side, when its activated “dies a thousand deaths,” making me I suppose half a coward. I honestly think I’m not alone in being thus half a coward, but I am relatively alone in…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/08/healthy-and-…

Ecuador’s Rafael Correa sentenced to 8 years in prison on bribery and corruption charges
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-04-08
Following the verdict, Correa has been barred from electoral politics for 25 years. The former president condemned the decision and termed it a bid to prevent him and his allies from contesting the presidential elections next year…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/04/08/ecuadors-…

BLM Timber Sale Increases Fire Risk, Reduces Climate Resilience and Harms Recreation
Luke Ruediger | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-08
The Bureau of Land Management’s Medford District has proposed the Bear Grub timber sale in the mountains between Ruch in the Applegate Valley and Talent in the Rogue Valley. This project focuses on logging some of the driest watersheds in Western Oregon, including popular recreation areas along the East Applegate Ridge Trail, and in important…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/08/blm-timber-s…

Draconian Lockdown Powers and Civil Liberties
John W. Whitehead | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-08
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms

From Strike Wave to General Strike
Richard Moser | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-08
The strike wave is here. The strike wave is real. Can workers take the next steps toward a General Strike? The current crisis is a rare opportunity for us to build a movement both outside of electoral politics and based on an organizing model. That matters because the biggest shortcoming of the left and the…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/08/from-strike-…

Finding Meaning and Purpose in Adversity
Nyla Ali Khan | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-08
Acknowledging your grief is not self-pity, nor is it a cry for help. On the contrary, it has been empowering for me to recognize that I will live with this grief for as long as I live. But I won’t be paralyzed or mired in depression. My father’s death is not devoid of meaning. And…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/08/finding-mean…

The Rap Sheets of the Big Ventilator Producers
Phil Mattera | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-08
Earlier this year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in South Carolina announced that a company called ResMed had agreed to pay more than $37 million to settle allegations under the False Claims Act that it illegally paid kickbacks to promote sales of equipment used to treat sleep apnea. The case did not receive much attention at the time,…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/08/the-rap-shee…

Dossier 27: Popular agrarian reform and the struggle for land in Brazil
The Tricontinental | mronline.org | 2020-04-08
The land question is central to understanding political life and society in Brazil. The country has enormous landed estates, known as latifundios, which have their roots in the beginning of the Portuguese occupation of this part of South America at the start of the 16th century. The Portuguese seizure of this land and its conversion …
mronline.org/2020/04/08/dossier-27-popul…

Video: Mutant Viruses. Makes Me Nervous with All that Weird Stuff Floating Around
Global Research News | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-08
Click Screen to view Video | Humor from Cheers TV Series | …
globalresearch.ca/mutant-viruses-makes-m…

Neoliberalism, Climate Change and the Future of Architecture
Caoimhghin àì Croidheáin | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-08
Introduction | What is the future for architecture in these times of climate change and economic crises? Should sustainability and affordability be a major factor in the design and development of future buildings? What about aesthetics? There are many individual examples …
globalresearch.ca/neoliberalism-climate-…

They Told Us So. “This Was Not a Strike out of the Blue”. Towards A New World Order
Jim Miles | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-08
I cannot say “I told you so” because I did not. But I can say “They told us so” because they did. “They” being the alternate media that provided news and views that the mainstream media (MSM) would not touch …
globalresearch.ca/they-told-us-so-this-w…

World Health Organization warns against premature ending of social distancing measures
wsws.org | 2020-04-08
The warnings come as the number of deaths worldwide approaches 82,000 and the number of officially confirmed cases burst past 1.4 million.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/08/covi…

The death of singer-songwriter Bill Withers, 1938-2020: “I never tried to be a star, but to be an artist”
wsws.org | 2020-04-08
Three-time Grammy award winner Bill Withers, who wrote and sang music that still resonates with millions of people around the world, died from heart complications on March 30 in Los Angeles at 81.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/08/with…

Iraqi PM-designate announces cabinet despite intense opposition from Shia blocs
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-04-08
Adnan Al-Zurfi presented his proposed government to the Iraqi parliament which will debate and vote on its ratification. However, his nomination has been opposed by major Shia blocks, including the Fateh bloc and the Sairoon alliance…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/04/08/iraqi-pm-…

Rosemary Neidenberg: a long and valued life
Deirdre Griswold | workers.org | 2020-04-08
Rosemary Neidenberg had reached the age of 99 before she died on March 29. But losing her then was still too soon and too sad for all her comrades, family and friends. Rosie was a treasure, a loving hug, an encyclopedia of past memories. She was beautiful in every way, . . . | Continue reading Rosemary Neidenberg: a long and valued life at Workers.org
workers.org/2020/04/47547/?utm_source=rs…

Number of coronavirus cases across 81 Russian regions rises by record 1,175 to 8,672
rt.com | 2020-04-08
The number of novel coronavirus cases in Russia has risen by 1,175 over the past day

US smashes daily Covid-19 death record AGAIN with nearly 2,000 fatalities in 24 hours, as outbreaks accelerate beyond New York
rt.com | 2020-04-08
The United States has set a new record for its daily mortality count, reporting just shy of 2,000 new deaths in the span of a single day, as fatalities in New York

UN suspends deployment and rotation of peacekeeping troops worldwide due to coronavirus pandemic
rt.com | 2020-04-08
The United Nations has ordered its military and police forces across the globe to suspend rotation in an effort to mitigate the spread of the deadly coronavirus. | The suspension will stay in effect until June 30, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric, told reporters on Tuesday. | “There is no movement of troops, coming in or out… A few, limited exceptions may be considered,” Dujarric told CBS News. | The spokesperson explained that the order applies not only to formed military and police units, but to individual officers as well. | The UN currently has 13 active peacekeeping missi…
rt.com/news/485242-un-suspends-al-peacek…

Iran’s Rouhani urges IMF to provide $5bn loan to his corona-ravaged country in defiance of US pressure
rt.com | 2020-04-08
The president of Iran has called on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to provide the Islamic Republic with a much-needed loan. The US has been opposing Iran’s request in what Tehran sees as an act of ‘medical terrorism.’ | Iran applied for IMF money in mid-March as the Covid-19 pandemic was overwhelming its national healthcare system. Tehran hadn’t asked for IMF assistance since the early 1960s and said it needed the money urgently to fight the coronavirus. The international organization, however, was not forthcoming as the US openly objected to providing any funds to Iran. | “I urge international organiza…
rt.com/news/485251-iran-imf-loan-coronav…

French Navy flagship & its ONLY carrier ‘Charles de Gaulle’ cuts Middle East op as DOZENS of sailors get Covid-19 symptoms
rt.com | 2020-04-08
France’s sole aircraft carrier ‘Charles de Gaulle’ had to suspend its Mediterranean Sea mission and turn back to port shortly after around 40 of its crewmembers were placed under medical observation with suspected Covid-19. | All symptomatic sailors have been “isolated” from the rest of the crew and are being constantly monitored by medical staff, the Defense Ministry said on Wednesday. | They have symptoms consistent with a possible Covid-19 infection. These first symptoms have appeared recently. | The illness struck the crew when the nuclear-powered ship was making its way to the Mediterranean Sea to partici…
rt.com/news/485250-french-aircraft-carri…

Pompeo says ‘no sanctions’ prevent Covid-19 aid to Iran, as US blocks $5bn IMF loan & ignores calls to lift penalties
rt.com | 2020-04-08
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said a raft of US sanctions do not stop humanitarian aid from reaching Tehran, even as the UN and rights groups say the penalties are crippling Iran’s healthcare system. | “I’ve heard people talking about sanctions. The world should know there are no sanctions that prevent humanitarian assistance, medical supplies, pharmaceuticals from going to Iran,” Pompeo told reporters at a White House briefing on Wednesday, adding that the US offered to send aid but Iran refused. | Tehran has repeatedly slammed the US pressure campaign

Dennis Quaid breaks from Hollywood pack, praises Trump, faces immediate scorn
rt.com | 2020-04-08
Actor Dennis Quaid believes President Donald Trump is “doing a good job” handling the coronavirus

Italy closes ‘unsafe ports’ to migrant ships over coronavirus
rt.com | 2020-04-08
Italian ports cannot be considered safe because of the coronavirus epidemic, the government said, adding that it will not let charity migrant boats dock. | The decision was taken late on Tuesday after a ship operated by the German non-governmental group Sea-Eye picked up some 150 people off Libya and headed towards Italy, Reuters reports. | “For the entire duration of the national health emergency caused by the spread of the COVID-19 virus, Italian ports cannot guarantee the requisites needed to be classified and defined as a place of safety,” the decree said. | The national emergency is set to expire on July…
rt.com/newsline/485258-italy-closes-port…

Bernie Sanders suspends 2020 Democratic presidential campaign
rt.com | 2020-04-08
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has suspended his 2020 presidential campaign, the Democratic candidate announced on Wednesday, after a lackluster primary showing and the Covid-19 pandemic ruled out any hope of victory. | Sanders announced he was dropping out of the race in an email to supporters, vowing that while “the campaign ends, the struggle continues.” His departure leaves former vice president Joe Biden as the sole Democratic candidate going into a nominating convention that has already been postponed until August due to the coronavirus pandemic. | Wisconsin’s disastrous primary on Tuesday may have contr…
rt.com/usa/485306-bernie-sanders-suspend…

Trump blames Warren & DNC for Sanders ending campaign, INVITES ‘Bernie people’ to the Republican Party
rt.com | 2020-04-08
President Donald Trump took to Twitter to invite Bernie Sanders supporters to the Republican Party after the Senator dropped out of the presidential race. Trump also blamed Sanders’ exit on Elizabeth Warren and the Democrats. | “Bernie Sanders is OUT! Thank you to Elizabeth Warren. If not for her, Bernie would have won almost every state on Super Tuesday!” the president tweeted shortly after it was announced Sanders was suspending his presidential campaign, clearing the way for Joe Biden to earn his party’s nomination. | Sanders ended his campaign with a total of 914 delegates, compared to the 1,217 earned by…
rt.com/usa/485307-trump-invites-bernie-p…

US is ‘by far best equipped’ nation to move forward once coronavirus pandemic is over, chief strategist tells Boom Bust
rt.com | 2020-04-08
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to spread in the United States, a record single-day number of more than 1,800 fatalities has been reported on Tuesday. It brings the total number of deaths in the country to nearly 13,000. | Boom Bust talks to Todd Horwitz of Bubba Trading about the current situation in the country and the recent stock market rally. | “US is by far the best equipped country,” he says, adding: “We were in reasonable growth, although we were in the early stage of a recession.” | According to Horwitz, US still has “the greatest opportunity to grow, and we are going to come out of this just fine.
rt.com/business/485281-us-coronavirus-be…

NY to fly flags HALF MAST for Covid-19 victims as number of infected in US passes 400,000
rt.com | 2020-04-08
As the number of American victims of the novel coronavirus has jumped over 14,000 and the number of infected began creeping towards half a million, New York Governor has announced flags will be flown at half mast in his state. | The US now has nearly 420,000 cases of the coronavirus, along with 14,262 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University count. The hardest hit state remains New York, which has recorded 6,268 deaths from the virus. The state has over 140,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, making it the epicenter of the outbreak, as its new deaths have put its toll ahead of Spain, which previou…
rt.com/usa/485324-new-york-flags-half-ma…

Putin announces additional measures to support Russian economy & business amid coronavirus pandemic
rt.com | 2020-04-08
Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed the government and the Central Bank to develop an additional business support program amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The program should be realized within five days, he said. | According to the president, it should allow companies “to preserve employment and salaries” at a maximum rate. | The coronavirus crisis may lead to even more substantial losses for businesses, Putin suggested, adding: “It is necessary to mitigate the downturn, soften the blow for businesses, whose losses are already rather substantial and may get even worse.” | The Russian leader also sugges…
rt.com/business/485302-putin-support-mea…

Stocks drop as eurozone fails to agree new coronavirus stimulus
rt.com | 2020-04-08
European stock markets traded lower on Wednesday after eurozone finance ministers failed to reach a deal on additional stimulus to weather the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. | The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell by more than one percent after Mario Centeno, who chairs the 19-member grouping, said that discussions would resume on Thursday. | “After 16h of discussions we came close to a deal but we are not there yet,” Centeno wrote in a tweet. | London’s FTSE 100 declined 1.6 percent, while Germany’s DAX slid 1.1 percent. France’s CAC 40 has dropped almost two percent. | The euro-area group had been…
rt.com/business/485257-stocks-eurozone-s…

EU ‘to take common approach’ on Covid-19 tracking apps as projects in Germany and France face privacy concerns, legal challenges
rt.com | 2020-04-08
The EU is reportedly prepared to adopt a common strategy for Covid-19 tracking apps amid calls to create a pan-European software model. Such projects have been met with privacy concerns and legal hurdles in Germany and France. | Brussels is set to take a “common approach to the use of digital technologies and data” in response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a document cited by Reuters. | Several EU countries have already been developing their own mobile apps designed to track the spread of the disease. A common strategy would allow the European Commission to monitor such apps and check whether they…
rt.com/news/485282-eu-covid19-tracking-a…

Even Germans fall for multi-million-dollar scam over masks… as WHO says they DON’T save healthy users from Covid-19
rt.com | 2020-04-08
Local authorities in Germany have been left red-faced after unknown fraudsters ‘sold’ them a nonexistent batch of face masks. The World Health Organization (WHO), meanwhile, says the item is mostly useless against Covid-19. | Face masks have become a precious commodity amid the global health crisis, with countries snatching shipments from under each other’s noses, prices skyrocketing and many opting for homemade variants. Loath to miss an opportunity for profit, however, criminal minds have found ways to dip into the burgeoning market of face protection gear as well. | North Rhine-Westphalia, the most densely-…
rt.com/news/485238-masks-scam-germany-sh…