Today, America’s wealthiest business moguls—like Jamie Dimon, head of JPMorgan Chase—claim that they are “patriots before CEOs” because they employ large numbers of workers or engage in corporate philanthropy. Continue reading
Here in America, we all die eventually. That’s what we do. And we’ve been doing this steadily since 1776. We don’t “pass away”. We don’t “cross over.” We die. It’s called the freaking circle of life, Simba. Continue reading
The economy shutdowns were done for the purpose of reducing the incidence of infection. Covid-19 is highly contagious. As the severity of a person’s case is not known in advance, high infection rates threaten to overwhelm health care facilities, thus making if difficult and even impossible for people suffering heart attacks and other illnesses unrelated to the virus to be treated. Continue reading
At least 70 countries have signed on to the March 23 call by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for a worldwide ceasefire during the Covid-19 pandemic. Like non-essential business and spectator sports, war is a luxury that the Secretary General says we must manage without for a while. After U.S. leaders have told Americans for years that war is a necessary evil or even a solution to many of our problems, Mr. Guterres is reminding us that war is really the most non-essential evil and an indulgence that the world cannot afford—especially during a pandemic. Continue reading
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday urged Congress to act immediately to stop President Donald Trump from using the novel coronavirus outbreak “as an opportunity to bankrupt and privatize the Postal Service,” a longstanding goal of the conservative movement. Continue reading
The definition of a “Judas goat” is a goat that is trained to lead sheep to slaughter. Continue reading
The COVID pandemic has thrown America’s atomic reactor industry into lethal chaos, making a major disaster even more likely. Reports from “terrified” workers at a Pennsylvania reactor indicate vital precautions needed to protect them may not even be possible. Continue reading
One way to intro this piece is to mention the funeral home next door to my building. Continue reading
The world will not soon forget the despicable nature of the Trump administration during the worst global pandemic since the 1918 flu. Trump, aided and abetted by a rogues’ gallery of misfits, hyper-xenophobes, and egotistical homosexuals, has all but ruined any good will the United States still maintained in the world prior to the coronavirus outbreak. Continue reading
For Donald Trump’s GOP followers, the real issue in the 2020 election is democracy itself. Continue reading
In every age, we find ourselves wrestling with the question of how Jesus Christ—the itinerant preacher and revolutionary activist who died challenging the police state of his time, namely, the Roman Empire—would respond to the moral questions of our day. Continue reading
Since the beginning of 2020, we’ve entered an extraordinary new era. There is still a great deal of fear and uncertainty about what lies ahead, and most countries are undergoing a kind of social and political revolution that is unprecedented in the post-war period. But amidst the tragedy and suffering of those affected by Covid-19, there is also a reawakening of hope about the future possibilities of this epochal moment. Political campaigners of every type are rolling out their progressive agendas, envisioning the crisis as an inflection point that could potentially kickstart a more just and sustainable economy. Continue reading
Wartime profiteering has been as common in our country as war itself. Continue reading
Throughout the world in countries that elected right-wing anti-government libertarian leaders—from the United States and Brazil to the United Kingdom and Australia—incompetence and lack of preparedness for the Covid-19 pandemic will directly lead to hundreds of thousands of needless deaths. The political rhetoric of those leaders who practice “barbarian laissez-faire” policies have been exposed by Covid-19 as worthless pablum designed to enthrall their unthinking supporters. Continue reading
The financially strapped United States Postal Service wound up with crumbs in the $2.2 trillion stimulus deal, despite playing a vital role in our nation’s public health and economic stability at this time of crisis. Continue reading
A new study out Tuesday estimates that worker layoffs unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic in the United States have already caused more than 1.5 million people to lose their employer-provided health insurance in recent weeks, with another 5.7 million likely to become uninsured by the end of June. Continue reading
Wisconsin might have just decided the November election for Trump at the expense of its own citizens’ lives. Continue reading
The Trump administration wants a hot war with Iran or Venezuela, or both, and those of us claiming to be antiwar must be on our guard and ready for action. Continue reading
The government of Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley was shocked when the Trump administration seized over 150 ventilators ordered and pre-purchased by Barbados from five different foreign sources. Although Barbados Health and Wellness Minister Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic said there are no shortage of ventilators in the country to deal with its current level of Covid-19 cases, the seizure by the U.S. has resulted in icy relations between Barbados and the United States. Continue reading
In a move that critics warned could put independent oversight of a multi-trillion-dollar coronavirus stimulus package “in grave jeopardy,” President Donald Trump on Monday fired the official in charge of monitoring the federal government’s implementation of the business-friendly new law. Continue reading
Our government just told polluters they are free to pump deadly chemicals into our air and water. That’s because the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has suspended all enforcement indefinitely, until the COVID-19 crisis is over. Continue reading
We finally got the mail on Thursday. None had arrived for a week, except for some packages. Our main local post office downtown, at the southern end of Manhattan’s West Village, has been hit hard by COVID-19. Continue reading
The utter chaos in America’s response to the pandemic—shortages of equipment to protect hospital workers, dwindling supplies of ventilators and critical medications, and jaw-dropping confusion over how the $2.2 trillion of aid in the recent coronavirus law will be distributed—was perhaps predictable in a nation that prides itself on competitive individualism and hates centralized power. Continue reading
In late February, Trump bungled by putting evangelical Christian fascist/science denier Pence in charge of one of two COVID-19 task forces. Continue reading
During a press briefing Sunday night purportedly aimed at providing the U.S. public with crucial information amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump refused to allow the nation’s top infectious disease expert to answer a reporter’s question about the efficacy of an anti-malaria drug that the president has recklessly touted as a possible COVID-19 treatment despite warnings from medical professionals. Continue reading
I frequently hear news anchors refer to this current planetary scourge as “a great leveller” that does not discriminate in terms of social status and is not deterred by borders. While I can understand the reasoning behind that conclusion it is open to challenge. Continue reading
Many years ago, bestselling author Michael Pollan explained there’s a trade-off between efficiency and resilience. Continue reading
I am beginning to be slightly wary of the word “safe.” What does it mean anyway? In times of crisis why do people fall back on clichés of the worst kind? Why are we at a loss of words that accurately reflect our feelings in times of disaster? Why do people who are on a public platform such as government spokespersons, medical experts and journalists keep repeating the same thing as if the set of words that they memorized have an inner meaning which we are supposed to decode in isolation? Continue reading
Mainstream politicians have long insisted that Medicare for All, a universal basic income, student debt relief and a slew of other much-needed public programs are off the table because the federal government cannot afford them. But that was before Wall Street and the stock market were driven onto life-support by a virus. Congress has now suddenly discovered the magic money tree. It took only a few days for Congress to unanimously pass the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which will be doling out $2.2 trillion in crisis relief, most of it going to Corporate America with few strings attached. Beyond that, the Federal Reserve is making over $4 trillion available to banks, hedge funds and other financial entities of all stripes; it has dropped the fed funds rate (the rate at which banks borrow from each other) effectively to zero; and it has made $1.5 trillion available to the repo market. Continue reading
Over the past two weeks, the explosive growth of the coronavirus pandemic has forced nearly 10 million Americans to file for unemployment benefits. Along with their jobs, many have lost their health insurance, if they had any to begin with. Aside from possibly spelling disaster for these newly unemployed workers and their families, this situation puts both the public health and economic wellbeing of our country at great risk. A clearer rationale for universal, affordable, lifetime health coverage as exemplified under a Medicare For All framework would be hard to find. Continue reading
A UN General Assembly resolution introduced by Russia to lift illegally imposed US sanctions on Iran, Venezuela, and other nations was rejected by the Trump regime. Continue reading
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COVID-19: Britain stares at economic abyss
Amid crippling pandemic, UK faces a looming deadline to chart a common future with the EU
Posted on April 14, 2020 by Linda S. Heard
Britons of all camps were desperate for the divisive three-year-long Brexit saga to end. Continue reading →