2020

Is Mitch McConnell Blocking further Congressional Aid to States on Behalf of Vulture Funds and Corporations with Impunity?

Has the Senate Majority Leader lost his faith in the wisdom and predictability of markets? Crude partisanship may underlie his reluctance to enact further Covid Depression relief assistance, but the reason given was extraordinary. The Senator professed a desire to wait for the effects of the first relief package to become apparent. “I think we […]

Afghanistan

On Memorial Day: How the US Lost its “Battle of Aqaba” to the Coronavirus

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On July 6, 1917, Auda Abu Tayy led his Howeitat tribesmen in a successful attack on the Ottoman port of Aqaba in what is now Jordan but was then the Ottoman Empire. The Arabs of the Hejaz or Western Arabia and the Transjordan had allied with the British to revolt […]

Epidemics

As 38.6 Million File for Unemployment, Wealth of Billionaires surged $435 Bn

Inequality.org

By Omar Ocampo and Chuck Collins | – ( Inequality.org) – The number of U.S. citizens filing for unemployment increased to 38.6 million since March 18, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over the same two months, the wealth of U.S. billionaires has surged $434 billion – an increase of 15 percent. The combined […]

Authoritarianism

Is Trump Ally Saudi Arabia moving toward Tolerance or Fear?

Bill Law

( Middle East Monitor ) – 21 May marked UNESCO’s World Day for Cultural Diversity and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a heavy contributor of UNESCO, released a beautifully shot and edited one-minute video that concluded with the words: “Saudi Arabia’s diversity is a rich and evolving story.” The following day, Saudi media outlets released […]

Employment

Not much of a Safety Net: Millions of Americans lost their Health Care and Apartments when COVID-19 Took their Jobs

The Conversation

By Paul Shafer | – The United States is experiencing its steepest economic slide in modern history. Tens of millions of Americans have filed new unemployment claims as the coronavirus shutters businesses and forces companies to lay off staff. People need support to help them through the crisis in a few key ways – cash […]

Donald Trump

Trump’s Little Big Horn: In the War on the Coronavirus, we Needed an Eisenhower; We got Custer

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – If Trump were actually a commander-in-chief in the war on Covid-19 instead of playing one on TV, he’d be less like General Dwight D. Eisenhower than like General George Armstrong Custer. Eisenhower defeated the military forces of the Third Reich on May 8, 1945, having already dispatched those of the […]

Epidemics

Will Covid-19 Crisis bring Americans together Across Race or Will they Double down on Razing Safety Net?

Inequality.org

By Lewis M. Steel< | - ( Inequality.org) – The new book by New York Times economics reporter Eduardo Porter, American Poison: How Racial Hostility Destroyed Our Promise, is not for the faint of heart. According to Porter, America’s struggling white middle class, and especially those without college or advanced degrees who once worked in […]

Epidemics

Memorial Day: Why veterans are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus pandemic

The Conversation

By Jamie Rowen | – As the nation takes a day to memorialize its military dead, those who are living are facing a deadly risk that has nothing to do with war or conflict: the coronavirus. Different groups face different degrees of danger from the pandemic, from the elderly who are experiencing deadly outbreaks in […]

Constitution

DOJ is Dropping charges against Trump Buddy Flynn even though he was a Turkish Agent while at NSC

Reese Erlich

(48hills.org) – Trump’s Justice Department wants to drop all charges against former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn despite his having admitted to being guilty. Twice. The judge in his case has so far refused to knuckle under and is investigating whether Flynn’s conviction should stand. In 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI […]

Archives for 2020