Propaganda pandemic: The craziest COVID claims of the year
Dan Cohen | mronline.org | 2020-12-24
No matter how many Americans die, corporate media is desperate to shore up support at home and attempt to discredit foreign countries for handling the pandemic properly. Behind The Headlines’ Dan Cohen reviews the most absurd COVID propaganda of the year..
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In a Crisis, a Compromise Solution Is Worse Than No Solution at All
Ted Rall | counterpunch.org | 2020-12-24
The raging argument on the left between progressives who argue for radical change and centrists who advocate incrementalism is hardly new. Nearly a century ago, progressive titan and Wisconsin governor Robert La Follette and FDR were often at loggerheads over the same question. Roosevelt, La Follette complained, was too quick to compromise with reactionaries. FDR…
counterpunch.org/2020/12/24/in-a-crisis-…
Political Crisis Stricken Peru Tops One Million COVID-19 Cases
telesurenglish.net | 2020-12-24
Peruvian health officials reported 1,000,153 cases as of Tuesday evening, making it the fifth nation in South America to exceed one million cases and the 17th worldwide. With over 37,000 deaths from COVID-19, the Andean nation exhibits the world’s second-highest per capita death toll from the pandemic, according to data compiled by John Hopkins University. | RELATED: | Peru Bans Flights From Europe Over New Sars-Cov-2 Strain | With a population of 32 million, the Andean nation estab…
telesurenglish.net/news/peru-fifth-natio…
Hugo Chávez and Maoism: A Conversation with Chris Gilbert
Cira Pascual Marquina | counterpunch.org | 2020-12-24
Professor of political science at Venezuela’s Bolivarian University, Chris Gilbert is creator and co-host of Escuela de Cuadros, a Marxist educational program broadcast in Venezuelan public television and a participant in the Barcelona-based project Seminari Taifa. Gilbert’s articles have appeared in Rebelión, LaHaine, Monthly Review, and CounterPunch, and he has coauthored the recently-published book Venezuela,…
counterpunch.org/2020/12/24/hugo-chavez-…
The Spirit of Christmas: War Criminals George W. Bush and Tony Blair banned from the Birthplace of Jesus Christ
Prof Michel Chossudovsky | globalresearch.ca | 2020-12-24
“Bush and his supporters have marred the teachings of Christ. Their entry into the church will tarnish it as [Bush’s] hands are covered in the blood of the innocent,”
globalresearch.ca/the-spirit-of-christma…
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Thousands of migrants lose shelter, after camp destroyed in fire
news.un.org | 2020-12-24
The closure and subsequent fire, on Wednesday, at a migrant camp in Bosnia and Herzegovina has left thousands of migrants without shelter and protection, amid plummeting winter temperatures, the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) has reported.
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Singapore confirms 1st case of new Covid-19 strain
Online News Editor | laprensalatina.com | 2020-12-24
Bangkok Desk, Dec 24 (efe-epa).- Singapore has confirmed its first case of a person infected with the new variant of Covid-19 discovered in the United Kingdom. The patient is a 17-year-old Singaporean who returned to the city state on Dec. 6 from the UK, where she had been studying since August, the Ministry of Health …
laprensalatina.com/singapore-confirms-1s…
Racist practices at the SF Health Service System will no longer be tolerated: Remove Mitch
Malik Washington | indybay.org | 2020-12-24
SF Bay View Editor Malik Washington reports on systemic racism in the SF Health Service System…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/12/22/1883906…
Beirut’s Christmas spirit shattered by explosion, crisis
Online News Editor | laprensalatina.com | 2020-12-24
By Noemí Jabois and Anna María Guzelian Beirut, Dec 24 (efe-epa).- Silvie Mousalli sits in a wheelchair on her balcony in Beirut’s Karantina neighborhood, ground zero of the massive explosion that shook the city in August, the two Yuletide garlands being the only reminder that Christmas is just around the corner. The adornments cannot bring …
laprensalatina.com/beiruts-christmas-spi…
Brazilian institute announces vaccine exceeds minimum efficacy, safety levels
Online News Editor | laprensalatina.com | 2020-12-24
Sao Paulo, Dec 23 (efe-epa).- The vaccine against Covid-19 developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd. laboratory, in cooperation with the Butantan Institute in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state, has exceeded the minimum levels of safety and efficiency demanded by Brazilian and international health authorities, government sources in Sao Paulo reported on Wednesday. The Coronavac vaccine “reached …
laprensalatina.com/brazilian-institute-a…
Ecuador’s indigenous people turn to ancestral remedies against Covid-19
Online News Editor | laprensalatina.com | 2020-12-24
By Domenica Enriquez Miwaguno, Ecuador, Dec 23 (efe-epa).- Residents of some indigenous communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon are choosing to rely on the natural remedies used by their ancestors as they battle the Covid-19 pandemic. More than 3,200 indigenous people have contracted the coronavirus and 49 have perished, according to figures from Ecuador’s Health Ministry, …
laprensalatina.com/ecuadors-indigenous-p…
Sunday 12/27: Putting Christ Back into Christmas: Compassion for the Poor & Homeless (NUH & Kairos Cntr)
NUHKC | indybay.org | 2020-12-24
Online via livestream…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/12/23/1883906…
At Its Best, Christmas Is About the Joy That Fuels the Struggle for Justice
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-12-24
It is in the darkest time of the year that we must make room for, and remember, the light. | This is a truth that finds a place in many religions: Right around November and December we find Hindus, Jains and Sikhs setting out lanterns and candles to celebrate Diwali; Jewish families lighting menorahs; crowds releasing floating lanterns in the Yi Peng festival in Thailand; and Christians lighting not only the pine…
truthout.org/articles/at-its-best-christ…
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Yuletide Lockdowns and Cancelling Christmas
Binoy Kampmark | counterpunch.org | 2020-12-24
The mind changer in Downing Street has struck again. With UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the helm, changes of direction are compulsive, natural and sudden. The U-Turn has become the prosaic expectation.
counterpunch.org/2020/12/24/yuletide-loc…
World War I: The 1914 Christmas Truce
Dr. Jacques R. Pauwels | globalresearch.ca | 2020-12-24
An excerpt from Jacques Pauwels’ book The Great Class War, 1914-1918 | The situation in the fall 1914, after the “war of movement” has given way to the infamous stationary “trench warfare”: | The ordinary soldiers developed more and more antipathy and | …
globalresearch.ca/world-war-i-the-1914-c…
No Co-Sponsor of ‘Medicare for All’ Has Lost Reelection in the Past Decade
Richard Lachmann | zcomm.org | 2020-12-24
Every single Congressional co-sponsor of these bills in the House and Senate who were up for reelection beat their Republican opponents in 2020. And in 2018. And in 2016…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/no-co-sponsor-of-m…
The UN is not above playing politics with its mortality (and other) statistics
Joe Emersberger | zcomm.org | 2020-12-24
It’s clear that technical departments within the UN have their work corrupted by the US government and its allies. Consider recent reporting by the Grayzone on OPCW whistleblowers who exposed manipulation of an investigation into alleged chemical weapons use in Syria in 2018. Going further back, Hans Blix, the Swedish diplomat who was in charge Read…
zcomm.org/zblogs/the-un-is-not-above-pla…
UN agencies not above playing politics with statistics
Joe Emersberger | zcomm.org | 2020-12-24
It’s clear that technical departments within the UN sometimes have their work corrupted by the US government and its allies. Consider recent reporting by the Grayzone on OPCW whistleblowers who exposed manipulation of an investigation into alleged chemical weapons use in Syria in 2018. Going further back, Hans Blix, the Swedish diplomat who was in Read…
zcomm.org/zblogs/the-un-is-not-above-pla…
PDF of December 24 issue
Workers World Party | workers.org | 2020-12-24
Download the 12-page PDF. Georgia Senate runoff Redbaiting derails people’s needs Youth in vanguard; Russell Maroon Shoatz; The real 2020 heroes; Amazon union drive in Ala.; Five hottest years; Vaccine chaos; Editorial: Too little, too late GLOBAL: Amauta in Peru; ‘Soft coup’ attempt in Cuba; BLM in France. TEAR DOWN . . . | Continue reading PDF of December 24 issue at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/12/53435/?utm_source=rs…
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Australian COVID-19 outbreak underscores danger of corporate drive to lift safety restrictions
wsws.org | 2020-12-24
Limited safety restrictions have been relaxed in Sydney, despite warnings from infectious diseases experts.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/12/24/sydd…
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Lexi McMenamin | progressive.org | 2020-12-24
COVID-19 has sparked a new wave of activism.
progressive.org/magazine/students-on-str…
The virus that shut down the world: 2020, a year like no other
news.un.org | 2020-12-24
COVID-19 is everywhere, literally, and during 2020 its spread and resulting impact has led to a global crisis of unprecedented reach and proportion. In a six-part series closing out this tumultuous year, UN News looks at the impact on people in every part of the world and some of the solutions that the United Nations has proposed to deal with the fall-out of the pandemic. In this first feature, we lay out some of the key events of the past 12 months.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/12/1…
No bottled O2 until further notice: Mexico City Covid patients’ dilemma
Online News Editor | laprensalatina.com | 2020-12-24
By Eduard Ribas i Admetlla Mexico City, Dec 23 (efe-epa).- The sign reading “No oxygen available” is being seen more and more frequently hanging on the doors of establishments selling medical equipment in Mexico City, where hospitals are rapidly filling and many people with sick relatives at home must look high and low for medical …
laprensalatina.com/no-bottled-o2-until-f…
France delivers tests to stranded drivers; Macron ends quarantine
Online News Editor | laprensalatina.com | 2020-12-24
Madrid Desk, Dec 24 (efe-epa).- A team of French firefighters has arrived in Dover to deliver 10,000 coronavirus tests to help ease the backlog of trucks that have been stranded in southern England since last week after a new strain of the virus was detected. Meanwhile in France, president Emmanuel Macron has recovered from Covid-19 …
laprensalatina.com/france-delivers-tests…
Tokyo reports record-high 888 new Covid-19 cases
Online News Editor | laprensalatina.com | 2020-12-24
Tokyo, Dec 24 (efe-epa).- The Japanese capital on Thursday reported a record 888 cases of daily coronavirus infection as the country battles the third wave of Covid-19 since November. According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the previous record of daily coronavirus numbers was 821, marked a week ago. With this, the total number of patients …
laprensalatina.com/tokyo-reports-record-…
Why Can’t CEO’s Pay for Their Own Lunch?
Sarah Anderson | counterpunch.org | 2020-12-24
While the world is reeling from the pandemic, corporate lobbyists have been focused on making taxpayers subsidize lavish lunches for wealthy executives. And their work has paid off in the new Covid relief deal. Buried in the details of this modest aid plan is a provision to give executives unlimited tax deductions for their business…
counterpunch.org/2020/12/24/why-cant-ceo…
COVID-19 Relief Bill Includes $500 Million to Buy American Dairy
Joseph Parampathu | indybay.org | 2020-12-24
The proposed Bipartisan COVID-19 Emergency Relief Act of 2020 set to be signed into law includes $500 million in government funding allocated towards the “Dairy Donation Program” which provides payments from the government to dairy producers.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/12/23/1883907…
All the Cannons Will Silently Rust
Vijay Prashad | zcomm.org | 2020-12-24
In Kerala, the government operated in a measured, swift, and deliberate way to inform the public, to use the government machinery to test the population for COVID-19, to carry out contact tracing, to isolate and treat the infected, and to take all possible measures to flatten the curve…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/all-the-cannons-wi…
Yemen’s Humanitarian Crisis Worsened Amid COVID
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-12-24
For Yemen, 2020 has been an apocalyptic year, which has exceeded even the worst forecasts for a country that has in recent years been ravaged by war and humanitarian disaster. | The rapprochement between the Houthis — a political and armed movement that controls two-thirds of the population of Yemen’s population — and Saudi Arabia at the end of 2019 was viewed with some optimism, yet new clashes have since broken out across the country. Even the outbreak of COVID-19 did not stop the violence. As a result of ne…
truthout.org/articles/yemens-humanitaria…
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A Country in Turmoil: Why Netanyahu is a Symptom, Not Cause of Israel’s Political Crisis
Ramzy Baroud | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-12-24
It is convenient to surmise that Israel’s current political crisis is consistent with the country’s unfailing trajectory of short-lived governments and fractious ruling coalitions. While this view is somewhat defensible, it is also hasty. Israel is currently at the cusp of a fourth general election in less than two years. Even by Israel’s political standards, …
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‘I Ain’t Marching Anymore’
Frida Berrigan | zcomm.org | 2020-12-24
From the American Revolution through the Global War on Terror, author Chris Lombardi tells the inspiring stories of people who refused to kill…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/i-aint-marching-an…
The White Helmets fraud in Syria
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-12-24
The most recent denunciation from Syria confirms the support of Western powers to the alleged humanitarian organization of the White Helmets which is also a fraud of crude media manipulation.
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US Airports Are Portals for Disease Spread. Venezuela Shows Another Way
Margaret Flowers | zcomm.org | 2020-12-24
People in the United States do have a lot to learn from Venezuelans and from people in many other countries that are handling the pandemic well…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/us-airports-are-po…
As temperatures plummet and pandemic rages, homelessness in Michigan poised to explode
wsws.org | 2020-12-24
Homelessness has been rising across the state of Michigan and is expected to explode in 2021 as the end of the a national eviction moratorium nears and pandemic-related job losses and wage cuts mount.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/12/24/home…
Congressional Progressives Aim for Much More in 2021
Sarah Anderson | zcomm.org | 2020-12-24
The Progressive Caucus has unveiled a legislative agenda designed to meet the scale of the pandemic catastrophe and reduce our vulnerability to future crises…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/congressional-prog…
Nostalgia, Protest and a 9/11 Everyday
Howard Lisnoff | counterpunch.org | 2020-12-24
In 1971, an important year for antiwar protest in the US, Abbie Hoffman (Soon To Be A Major Motion Picture, 1980) encountered a group of young people dressed in hippie garb. He greeted them and asked where they were headed to from Greenwich Village in Manhattan. They responded that they were going to a celebration in…
counterpunch.org/2020/12/24/nostalgia-pr…
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‘Utterly baffling, without merit:’ University of Mississippi fires anti-racist professor
Liberation Staff-Mississippi | liberationnews.org | 2020-12-24
The termination of Garrett Felber shocked the department’s faculty and graduate students.
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Rent: Why We Say Don’t Pay
David Rovics | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-12-24
As 2020 draws to a close, an open letter to Portland with particular regards to the renters, and the peculiar beauty of the notion of a rent strike during an eviction moratorium. Dear Portland, And dear anyone else, particularly in other localities that have passed similar laws to the eviction moratorium that was just renewed …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/12/rent-why-we-s…
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UK regulators give okay to use psychedelic drug to treat depression in first clinical trial
Ashley Curtin | nationofchange.org | 2020-12-24
“We think this could be a treatment for a number of depressive disorders besides major depression, including PTSD, treatment-resistant depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and possibly some types of substance abuse.”
nationofchange.org/2020/12/24/uk-regulat…
Why is the Guardian promoting more Pentagon propaganda?
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-12-24
Recent reporting reinforces the false impression that the United States is threatened by Chinese and Russian expansionism.
mronline.org/2020/12/24/why-is-the-guard…
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Indian women revive non-violent civil disobedience movements against the extinguishment of citizenship rights
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-12-24
On 11 December 2019 one of the largest peaceful Civil Disobedience Movements in India after Indian Independence in defence of the Constitution and Constitutional rights, began under the leadership of Indian Muslim women in Delhi.
mronline.org/2020/12/24/indian-women-rev…
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Mexican Wolf Killings Expose the Dark Underbelly of Western Culture
Greta Anderson | counterpunch.org | 2020-12-24
For over a year, my colleague at Western Watersheds Project and I have been paging through gory reports of dead livestock, most of them (questionably) attributed to Mexican wolf predation. I’ve gotten somewhat inured to seeing the bloody corpses of cattle, decapitated calves, and dissection necropsies. It’s unpleasant work, but it’s turned up some very…
counterpunch.org/2020/12/24/mexican-wolf…
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Morocco and the Grand Bargain with US and Israel
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-12-24
A deal to normalize diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel was signed at the Rabat’s Royal Palace, on December 22 in Morocco. The deal has been criticized by prominent Palestinian organizations, as well as by Iran and Hezbollah.
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/12/24/morocco-a…
California is 40% Latinx. In Alex Padilla, it will finally have its first Latinx senator
Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez | nationofchange.org | 2020-12-24
“This is really a reflection of the historic importance of Latinos.”
nationofchange.org/2020/12/24/california…
Wearing a Cross But Violating Basic Christian Values
Rev. Dr. Andrea Ayvazian | counterpunch.org | 2020-12-24
Everything that comes out of the White House today — the lies, the false claims of election fraud, the absurd lawsuits — makes me retreat and recoil. But I feel a particular sense of dread whenever I am watching the TV news and press secretary Kayleigh McEnany steps up to the podium in the White…
counterpunch.org/2020/12/24/wearing-a-cr…
Time to End Patent Monopolies
Dean Baker | counterpunch.org | 2020-12-24
For several years the opioid crisis has been recognized as a major national catastrophe. Millions of people have become addicted to the new generation of opioid drugs. In many cases, this addiction has led to the destruction of families, job loss, crime, and suicide. At the peak of the crisis in West Virginia, the hardest…
counterpunch.org/2020/12/24/time-to-end-…
Let’s call environmentalism what it is
Bela Williams | nationofchange.org | 2020-12-24
We should call environmentalism what it is: A problematic term that has been manipulated to fit the needs of those who are–intentionally or otherwise–hiding reality.
nationofchange.org/2020/12/24/lets-call-…