Health

By Mandy Smithberger | – In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Washington has initiated its largest spending binge in history. In the process, you might assume that the unparalleled spread of the disease would have led to a little rethinking when it came to all the trillions of dollars Congress has given the Pentagon in […]

Epidemics

History’s crystal ball: What the past can tell us about COVID-19 and our future

Ellen Amster

(The Conversation) – During this pandemic, historians have been consulted like the Oracle of Delphi. Is COVID-19 like the Black Death? The 1918 flu? What lessons of history can be applied to today? But can history show us what we want to know? In some ways, yes. In others, no. And we need to broaden […]

Epidemics

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Palestinian Farmers Struggle against Annexation and the Pandemic

Open Democracy

By Salena Fay Tramel | – ( Opendemocracy.net ) – It has not been an easy year for Palestinians, if there ever was such a thing. With the turn of a new decade in January, the U.S. administration unveiled the paradoxically branded “deal of the century” plan—calling for Israel to unilaterally annex about a third […]

Donald Trump

Millions of Yemeni Children on Brink of Starvation amid Saudi War, Covid-19 Aid Cutbacks: UNICEF

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The war on Yemen begun in 2015 by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates has been a failure militarily and a vast drain on resources that, in the age of Covid-19, neither country can any longer afford. Not only has the war been Saudi Arabia’s Vietnam, it has inflicted […]

Donald Trump

Despite Trump, Testing Is Not Causing Case Counts to Rise. The Virus Is Just Spreading Faster

ProPublica

By Charles Ornstein and Ash Ngu | – ( ProPublica) – President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have repeatedly attributed the increase in the coronavirus case count in the United States to an increase in testing. “We’re doing so much testing, so much more than any other country,” Trump said in an interview […]

Donald Trump

Kooks, Never-Maskers and our Pandemic Death Toll: The High Cost of Republican Malevolence

David Faris

Chicago (Special to Informed Comment) – Today the United States eclipsed 125,000 deaths from the Coronavirus pandemic, and the worst might be yet to come. Despite having months to right-foot the White House’s initial, lackadaisical response to the looming disaster, the country is in many ways in a more dire position than it was in […]

Donald Trump

Trump’s incompetence has Reduced Americans to Lepers whom Europe won’t Let in

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The French press is reporting that the European Union is opening its borders on July 1, but will keep them closed to countries that seem incompetent in dealing with the coronavirus. The worst offenders in this regard are the United States and Brazil, the citizens of both of which will […]

Epidemics

Saudi Arabia ends Lockdown as Infections Surge: Is it on a Trumpian path to Disaster?

Brian Whitaker

(Al-Bab.com) – Saudi Arabia ended its coronavirus lockdown this morning despite record numbers of new infections during the past week. Lifting the lockdown brings an end to the night curfews first imposed in March. It also means mosques can reopen and all economic activity can resume, subject to precautions. This includes domestic tourism, though international […]

Donald Trump

Trump dumped the World Health Organization in the midst of a Global Pandemic. Why?

ProPublica

By Sebastian Rotella, James Bandler and Patricia Callahan | – ( ProPublica ) – Right before President Donald Trump unveiled punitive measures against China on May 29, he inserted a surprise into his prepared text. “We will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization,” he announced during a press conference in the […]