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Coronavirus

Auto Honking Protest Against ICE, Supports Hunger Strike Inside

March 23, 2020 Never Again Action, Threadreaderapp.com , , , ,
Almost 100 cars here on multiple blocks, surrounding the Hudson County Detention Center in New Jersey! The detention centers must be emptied before they turn into death camps. ICE won’t do it; only Governors have the emergency powers to save these lives.

Solidarity Is Our Only Chance

March 23, 2020 By Jane Slaughter, Labornotes.org , , ,
If there were ever a time to say, “I'll fight for someone I don't know,” this is it. If we ever meant it when we said “an injury to one is an injury to all,” now we're seeing why that's so. The labor movement's cherished values of solidarity and siblinghood are our only chance if we don't want to see our elders die before their time.

Why Nigeria Knows Better How To Fight Corona Than The US

March 23, 2020 By Crystal Simeoni, Ips-journal.eu , , ,
The coronavirus disease, otherwise known as COVID-19, was first reported in Wuhan, China on the last day of December 2019. When it began to spread rapidly , the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared it a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January 2020. As such, the coronavirus puts and continues to put a spotlight on the need for meaningful investment in health care...

Coronavirus – A Lockdown Is Not Enough

March 23, 2020 Moon of Alabama, Informationclearinghouse.info , ,
March 17, 2020 "Information Clearing House" - Dr. Carl Juaneau, who is specialized in epidemiology, has pointed me to a page where he collects useful information about the novel Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 and the current pandemic it causes. COVID-19: Why America May Be Hit Hard for 3-4 Months & What To Do It is quite good. Make sure that you scroll beyond the long country statistic for additional useful information.

Late-Stage Imperial Omni-Crisis: Death By Virus And Internal Contradictions

March 23, 2020 Glen Ford, Blackagendareport.com , , ,
The nation that considers itself to be the apex of capitalist achievement on planet Earth turns out to have no health care system worthy of the name – a testament to the sucking moral vacuum at America’s imperial, white settler colony core. A lowly virus – a form of being that exists at the very border between “life” and “not-life” – has revealed the world’s superpower as butt-naked and very much afraid.

Inside The Military’s Top Secret Plans If Coronavirus Cripples The Government

March 23, 2020 By William M. Arkin, Newsweek.com , , ,
Even as President Trump says he tested negative for coronavirus, the COVID-19 pandemic raises the fear that huge swaths of the executive branch or even Congress and the Supreme Court could also be disabled, forcing the implementation of "continuity of government" plans that include evacuating Washington and "devolving" leadership to second-tier officials in remote and quarantined locations.

Detroit Bus Drivers Win Protections Against Virus Through Strike

March 23, 2020 Jane Slaughter, Labornotes.org , , , , ,
Detroit bus drivers collectively declared Tuesday morning that they weren't going to work without safety precautions. A city worker is cleaning at the end of the line. Photo: Jim West / jimwestphoto.com. Detroit bus drivers collectively declared Tuesday morning that they weren't going to work without safety precautions. Bus service was canceled throughout the city because of “the driver shortage,” as city officials put it.

The Decade Of Transformation Is Here: Remaking Health Care

March 22, 2020 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, Popular Resistance , , ,
We've been writing for a while that the 2020's would be a decade when multiple crises would come to a head and we would have an opportunity for major transformations if we were organized to mobilize and demand them. The current coronavirus pandemic, economic collapse, and falling oil prices are three events that are creating such opportunities. Each crisis shows the glaring shortcomings of healthcare, economic and environmental policies that are failing the people and planet. Nobody could have predicted that the crises would happen so quickly, but here we are. Now, we must act on two levels. First, an immediate response to the pandemic that is rapidly infecting and hospitalizing people and could lead to more than one million deaths in the United States and to the global economic collapse triggered by the COVID-19 virus that is bringing the economy to a standstill with rapidly rising unemployment and resulting in a deep recession or even a depression.

Social Distancing Is Impossible In Prisons, People Should Be Freed

March 22, 2020 Victoria Law, Truthout. , , ,
In early March, Michelle Tran drove 1,500 miles from her home in Wichita, Kansas, to visit her husband Thai at California’s Avenal State Prison. It’s a trek that Tran makes every 45 to 60 days. She typically spends a week in California so that she can visit her husband for two weekends. During the week, she visits family in Fresno and drives to Los Angeles to check on Thai’s mother, who is battling Stage IV cancer. That first weekend, the couple sat at the small round tables in the prison’s visiting room. They were able to hold hands, hug, kiss and eat snacks from the prison’s vending machines. On Sunday, Tran ended their visit after two hours to drive to Sacramento for a Drop LWOP rally urging lawmakers to change laws and end sentences of life without the possibility of parole.

In A Pandemic, Climate Activists Reevaluate Their Tactics

March 22, 2020 Judy Fahys, Inside Climate News. , , ,
Until the coronavirus crisis exploded in the United States, Cherise Udell was helping to organize a national climate-action training aimed at mobilizing as many as 11 million people to fight for serious climate solutions.  As founder of the group, Utah Moms for Clean Air, she's learned firsthand how building trust face-to-face is crucial for taking on big issues associated with a healthy environment.  But three weeks ago, in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, she persuaded fellow organizers in the upcoming Arm in Arm 4 Climate campaign to rethink an upcoming activist training retreat. Instead of gathering in Washington, D.C., they are going to plan their direct actions virtually. "No one wants to hear about climate change now—not even climate change activists," she said.

Increase In Unemployment Insurance Claims Previews The Coming Recession

March 22, 2020 Heidi Shierholz, Economic Policy Institute. , , ,
Initial unemployment insurance (UI) claims for the week ending last Saturday, March 14, showed an increase in initial UI claims of 70,000 from the prior week—from 211,000 to 281,000. This was the first official labor market data release to show the early signs of the coronavirus shock. Prior to this week, unemployment insurance claims had been hovering between roughly 210,000 and 230,000 for more than two years. The jump last week was the biggest one-week increase since 2012 (and with an increase of 33%, it was the biggest increase in percent terms since 1992—bigger than anything we saw during the Great Recession). For comparison, the increase of 70,000 last week was slightly more than the increase of 61,000 due to Hurricane Harvey in the week ending September 2, 2017.

Taxes In A Time Of Coronavirus

March 22, 2020 the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. , , ,
Some problems can only be solved when public officials have the resources to act. Today’s public health crisis is that kind of problem. Unfortunately, the Trump administration’s deep tax cuts leave our health infrastructure knee-capped, just when we need it most. This means more Americans will get sick, the economy will suffer more harm, and more people could die. Assertive, smart policy changes can protect us from the worst consequences. Changes to the tax code need to be among them. Here are five policies Congress and the Trump administration should enact to address coronavirus (also called COVID-19) and prepare us for future crises. Crises are inevitable but we have power over our response. The Trump administration’s weak response is making our people and likely our economy sicker. There are consequences to destroying our shared capacity to confront problems. We’re about to learn how deep. The current disaster threatens our health and our economy. Ongoing crises stem from fast-accelerating climate change, skyrocketing inequality, and inadequate federal response to both.

Epidemic Exacerbation: Washington’s Shameful Record Of Hypocrisy.

March 22, 2020 Maj. Danny Sjursen, USA (ret.), Popular Resistance. , , ,
There are times when President Trump’s overt race-baiting and cynical nativism are almost refreshing.  And no doubt, as photos emerge showing his brazen personal edits - crossing out the word “Corona,” and substituting “China” -virus - to a recent speech, it seems The Donald has finally traded in his “dog-whistle” for a “dog-bullhorn.”  Sort of reminds one of the early 1980s, when it wasn't uncommon to refer to AIDS as “GRIDS” (Gay-related immunodeficiency) - or the “gay plague” - and the dereliction of then President Reagan’s response, whereby he didn't even speak publicly on the disease until 1985. Nevertheless, unconscionable as the current president’s cynical, divisive opportunism is, it shouldn't surprise anyone.  While hardly an apology for “Trump-being-Trump,” that’s ultimately what this is; and his “liberal” opponents should (but won’t) take cautious before making COVID-19 all about the current occupant of the Oval Office. 

In Light Of The Global Pandemic, Focus Attention On The People.

March 22, 2020 Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. , , ,
SARS-CoV-2 or COVID19, now declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation, has begun to wreak havoc in large parts of the world, with other parts waiting in anticipation. We are in a real struggle, which needs total mobilisation; a struggle that needs to put life before profit. We will only win this struggle – as China has already done – if our people are united and disciplined, if governments earn our respect by their actions, and if we act in solidarity across the globe. Global debt is at $250 trillion, with corporate debt already enormous. On the other hand, there are trillions of dollars swirling around stock markets and in tax havens. As economic activity contracts, corporations will line up for bailouts; this is not the best use of precious human resources in this time.

Social Distance With A Vengeance

March 22, 2020 Werner Lange, HamptonThink.org. , , ,
Long before the practice of social distancing became the new normal, there was the concept of social distance. Named after its founder, the Bogardus Social Distance Scale was developed within the Chicago School of Sociology during the turbulent 1920s to empirically measure the degree of affinity (or lack thereof) Americans felt for members of various racial and ethnic groups in our highly diverse society. Seven categories of “social distance” were established ranging from willingness to marry a member of specified groups to outright exclusion of all such group members from the USA;  the higher the number on a scale of 1 to 7, the lower the affinity and greater the felt social distance. Not surprising for a white-supremacist society, European-Americans consistently ranked as having the lowest social distance standing in several nationwide surveys over a 40 year period, while Americans of color had the highest.
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