Daily Archives: April 23, 2020

2020-04-23: News Headlines

Susie Day (2020-04-23). Puerto Rico, Protest, Prison: Johanna Fernández and Jose Saldaña Talk About The Young Lords. counterpunch.org Johanna Fernández, child of immigrants from the Dominican Republic and professor at New York's Baruch College, has just published The Young Lords: A Radical History, a book about the 1960s Puerto Rican activist group. The Young Lords began as a Chicago street gang; then, inspired by the Black Panther Party, morphed into a militant rights

Lucas Koerner (2020-04-23). Trump Administration Orders Chevron to Shutter Venezuela Operations. globalresearch.ca The United States Treasury Department gave California-based oil giant Chevron until December 1 to wind down its operations in Venezuela. | The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a temporary

RT (2020-04-23). Indian refineries slash Middle East oil imports as storage fills up. rt.com Due to plummeting fuel demand and overflowing storage capacity, at least three oil refiners in India have asked for lower crude oil imports for May from the Middle East, including from the world's top exporter Saudi Arabia. | Two oil refiners will be cutting their crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia by between 66 percent and 80 percent for May, as India — population 1.3 billion people — went into a nationwide lockdown at the end of March. The lockdown has since been extended to May 3. | Due to the lockdown and to India's struggles to contain the spread of the coronavirus, fuel demand in the world's t…

Margaret Kimberley (2020-04-23). Cooperation Humboldt and the Solidarity Economy. zcomm.org Founded in 2017, Cooperation Humboldt was already incubating worker cooperatives, administering food sovereignty programs, advocating for public banking and participatory budgeting, and exploring housing cooperatives, an arts hub, and eco-villages—all before the pandemic arrived in the U.S.

Dr. Rudolf Hà§nsel (2020-04-23). Psychological Remarks on "Authority Obedience". Say No! globalresearch.ca What is happening in front of all our eyes at the moment is a huge scary dizziness. "Corona" is a geopolitical operation by the "global elite" and their "depopulation agenda" is real. Isolation imprisonment makes people sick and kills …

Caitlin Johnstone (2020-04-22). Mike Pompeo, Devourer Of Worlds. thealtworld.com Om nom nom nom nom nom nom, | nom nom nom nom nom, | om nom nom nom nom nom nom, | belch. | That is the sound that Mike Pompeo makes | when he devours Venezuelan civilians, | when he devours Yemeni war orphans, | when he devours Iranian Covid victims, | when he devours oil and user data, | when he devours Julian Assange, | when he devours nuclear fallout, | when he devours truth and morality, | when he devours your mind, | when he devours everyone's mind, | when he devours the light of consciousness, | when he devours everything sacred about our species, | when he devours the ecosystem, | when he devours the worl…

Staff (2020-04-22). Bill McKibben on Earth Day at 50: We Must Stop Subsidizing Fossil Fuel Industry Wrecking the Planet. democracynow.org Today marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, when more than 20 million Americans joined in actions to protect the environment — 10% of the U.S. population at the time. Half a century later, in the middle of a pandemic, protests planned around the world have moved online, and the Trump administration has gutted the Environmental Protection Agency — established not long after Earth Day — rolled back fuel economy standards and eased the enforcement of pollution regulations. "The countries that flattened the coronavirus curve early on are doing far better than those like ours, which delayed," says…

Alan MacLeod (2020-04-22). Sanctioned Countries Are Now Leading the World in the Fight Against Coronavirus. thealtworld.com Countries currently facing US sanctions, around a quarter of the world's population, are faring far better than the United States and leading the global fight against COVID-19. | MPN— After weeks of dismissing it as a liberal "hoax" designed to unseat the president, brushing the virus off as no big deal and under control, the Trump administration is clearly floundering in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite weeks of warning where it could have taken precautionary steps, the United States currently has four times the confirmed cases and twice the deaths of any other country. At the same time, the c…

RT (2020-04-22). France finds smoking may help you RESIST Covid-19… if you don't mind dying of something else. rt.com In a reversal of prevailing Covid-19 wisdom, a French study appears to show smokers are less at risk from the virus, affirming the results of an earlier Chinese study. The data aren't conclusive — but they're certainly surprising. | Nicotine may protect smokers against the coronavirus, according to a paper published on Tuesday in the French Academy of Sciences' Biology Reports. Studying 482 patients hospitalized with Covid-19 in Paris's Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital, the researchers found just 5 percent were daily smokers — far lower than the 25.4 percent of the French population wh…

Udi Ofer (2020-04-22). New Model Shows Reducing Jail Population will Lower COVID-19 Death Toll for All of Us. aclu.org The Trump administration optimistically projects that "substantially under" 100,000 people will die from COVID-19 in the United States. Horrific as that statistic is,

Matt Sedlar (2020-04-22). Tracking COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean. cepr.net

Germán Gorraiz López (2020-04-22). Is the CIA Preparing a Color Revolution in Cuba? globalresearch.ca The cessation of the United States blockade against Cuba, demanded for the twenty-eighth consecutive year in the General Assembly of the United Nations Organization and overwhelmingly approved by 187 votes in favor, 3 against (USA, Israel and Brazil ) and …

teleSUR (2020-04-22). Cuba: In Test Phase Vaccine That Activates Innate Immune System. telesurenglish.net The Cuban vaccine CIGB 2020 Immunopotentiator has entered the testing phase on the island to prove its effectiveness in the treatment of people infected with COVID-19. | RELATED: | According to Cuba's Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), the vaccine strengthens people's innate immunity. | Its application is nasal and sublingual. So far, it has proven effective in people confirmed with the dise…

teleSUR (2020-04-22). Trump Orders U.S. Oil Companies to Halt Operations in Venezuela. telesurenglish.net President Donald Trump's Administration Tuesday ordered U.S.-based multinational oil companies to gradually shut down their activities in Venezuela. | RELATED: | The Treasury Department Tuesday issued licenses for U.S. companies Chevron, Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker & Hughes, and Weatherford to operate in Venezuela until Dec. 1, 2020. | This extension of their previous permits will only allow those companies t…

news.un (2020-04-21). COVID-19 to cause biggest economic contraction ever in Latin America & Caribbean. news.un.org The COVID-19 pandemic will herald the worst economic contraction in the history of Latin American and the Caribbean, with a projected -5.3 per cent drop in activity this year, according to a report by the UN office for the region, ECLAC, published on Tuesday.

Fight Back (2020-04-21). New Orleans community unites in solidarity with large homeless population during pandemic lockdown. fightbacknews.org New Orleans, LA – Community members and workers have come together to provide basic emergency relief to thousands of houseless people in New Orleans. After coronavirus locked down the city, they organized a group called Southern Solidarity. The organization works to make up for city officials' failures in providing food, water and supplies to houseless people. | Southern Solidarity brings together dozens of volunteers on a daily basis. Most of them are furloughed workers who are otherwise social distancing. Volunteers wear masks, gloves, face shields and wash their hands regularly to confront the emergency in a s…

Colin Todhunter (2020-04-21). Coronavirus Capitalism: Entrenching Dispossession and Dependency. dissidentvoice.org There is surprisingly a certain degree of optimism around at the moment, despite virtually entire populations and economies on lockdown. Although things are really bad for millions right now due to the effects of lockdown, economist Mariana Mazzucato believes that the Covid-19 crisis will shine light on societal and economic systems all across the world, …

Alan Macleod (2020-04-20). Experts Warn: Years of US Intervention Have Set the Stage for a Deadly Coronavirus Outbreak in Haiti. mintpressnews.com Since 2004, successive administrations have partnered with Washington to loot Haiti, stripping away its assets to the point of collapse and leaving it woefully unprepared to face the coming pandemic.

Beau Peters (2020-04-18). The Important Role of the Gig Economy Worker in Times of Crisis. dissidentvoice.org Photo Credit: Kai Pilger, Unsplash In 2017, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 55 million Americans were gig economy workers, making up 34% of the working population. At that time, it was expected for the number to rise to 43%, but due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the gig economy is changing. Currently, about …

ACLU (2020-04-17). A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform. aclu.org

2020-04-23: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these 'POSTEES' on social media! (Copy the text of the postee below, then paste it on social media and the story images will also appear.)

Puerto Rico, Protest, Prison: Johanna Fernández and Jose Saldaña Talk About The Young Lords
Susie Day | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-23
Johanna Fernández, child of immigrants from the Dominican Republic and professor at New York's Baruch College, has just published The Young Lords: A Radical History, a book about the 1960s Puerto Rican activist group. The Young Lords began as a Chicago street gang; then, inspired by the Black Panther Party, morphed into a militant rights…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/23/puerto-rico-protest-prison-johanna-fernandez-and-jose-saldana-talk-about-the-young-lords/

Trump Administration Orders Chevron to Shutter Venezuela Operations
Lucas Koerner | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-23
The United States Treasury Department gave California-based oil giant Chevron until December 1 to wind down its operations in Venezuela. | The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a temporary license Tuesday authorizing Chevron transactions and activities "necessary for …
globalresearch.ca/trump-administration-orders-chevron-shutter-venezuela-operations/5710567

Cooperation Humboldt and the Solidarity Economy
Margaret Kimberley | zcomm.org | 2020-04-23
Founded in 2017, Cooperation Humboldt was already incubating worker cooperatives, administering food sovereignty programs, advocating for public banking and participatory budgeting, and exploring housing cooperatives, an arts hub, and eco-villages–all before the pandemic arrived in the U.S.
zcomm.org/znetarticle/cooperation-humboldt-and-the-solidarity-economy/

Psychological Remarks on "Authority Obedience". Say No!
Dr. Rudolf Hà§nsel | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-23
What is happening in front of all our eyes at the moment is a huge scary dizziness. "Corona" is a geopolitical operation by the "global elite" and their "depopulation agenda" is real. Isolation imprisonment makes people sick and kills …
globalresearch.ca/psychological-remarks-authority-obedience/5710555

Indian refineries slash Middle East oil imports as storage fills up
rt.com | 2020-04-23
Due to plummeting fuel demand and overflowing storage capacity, at least three oil refiners in India have asked for lower crude oil imports for May from the Middle East, including from the world's top exporter Saudi Arabia. | Two oil refiners will be cutting their crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia by between 66 percent and 80 percent for May, as India

US Deports Thousands of Migrants to COVID-19 Vulnerable Nations
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-22
The United States is continuing the deportation of thousands of migrants, some already sick with the novel coronavirus, to the most vulnerable countries in the Western Hemisphere despite widespread complaints and criticism, national media has reported. | RELATED: | Trump Orders U.S. Oil Companies to Halt Operations in Venezuela | The worrisome trend comes as U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the White House would halt the immigration of green card recipients for 60…
telesurenglish.net/news/US-Deports-Thousands-of-Migrants-to-COVID-19-Vulnerable-Nations-20200422-0015.html

Mike Pompeo, Devourer Of Worlds
Caitlin Johnstone | thealtworld.com | 2020-04-22
Om nom nom nom nom nom nom, | nom nom nom nom nom, | om nom nom nom nom nom nom, | belch. | That is the sound that Mike Pompeo makes | when he devours Venezuelan civilians, | when he devours Yemeni war orphans, | when he devours Iranian Covid victims, | when he devours oil and user data, | when he devours Julian Assange, | when he devours nuclear fallout, | when he devours truth and morality, | when he devours your mind, | when he devours everyone's mind, | when he devours the light of consciousness, | when he devours everything sacred about our species, | when he devours the ecosystem, | when he devours the worl…
thealtworld.com/caitlin_johnston/mike-pompeo-devourer-of-worlds

Bill McKibben on Earth Day at 50: We Must Stop Subsidizing Fossil Fuel Industry Wrecking the Planet
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-22
Today marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, when more than 20 million Americans joined in actions to protect the environment

Sanctioned Countries Are Now Leading the World in the Fight Against Coronavirus
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-04-22
Countries currently facing US sanctions, around a quarter of the world's population, are faring far better than the United States and leading the global fight against COVID-19.
mintpressnews.com/sanctioned-countries-leading-world-fight-against-coronavirus/266878/

Sanctioned Countries Are Now Leading the World in the Fight Against Coronavirus
Alan MacLeod | thealtworld.com | 2020-04-22
Countries currently facing US sanctions, around a quarter of the world's population, are faring far better than the United States and leading the global fight against COVID-19. | MPN– After weeks of dismissing it as a liberal "hoax" designed to unseat the president, brushing the virus off as no big deal and under control, the Trump administration is clearly floundering in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite weeks of warning where it could have taken precautionary steps, the United States currently has four times the confirmed cases and twice the deaths of any other country. At the same time, the c…
thealtworld.com/alan_macleod/sanctioned-countries-are-now-leading-the-world-in-the-fight-against-coronavirus

Cuba: In Test Phase Vaccine That Activates Innate Immune System
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-22
The Cuban vaccine CIGB 2020 Immunopotentiator has entered the testing phase on the island to prove its effectiveness in the treatment of people infected with COVID-19. | RELATED: | Cuba to Send Doctors to Four Caribbean Countries and Argentina | According to Cuba's Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), the vaccine strengthens people's innate immunity. | Its application is nasal and sublingual. So far, it has proven effective in people confirmed with the dise…
telesurenglish.net/news/cuba-in-test-phase-vaccine-that-activates-innate-immune-system-20200422-0002.html

Tracking COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean
Matt Sedlar | cepr.net | 2020-04-22
cepr.net/tracking-covid-19-in-latin-america-and-the-caribbean/

Is the CIA Preparing a Color Revolution in Cuba?
Germán Gorraiz López | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-22
The cessation of the United States blockade against Cuba, demanded for the twenty-eighth consecutive year in the General Assembly of the United Nations Organization and overwhelmingly approved by 187 votes in favor, 3 against (USA, Israel and Brazil ) and …
globalresearch.ca/cia-preparing-color-revolution-cuba/5710485

New Model Shows Reducing Jail Population will Lower COVID-19 Death Toll for All of Us
Udi Ofer | aclu.org | 2020-04-22
The Trump administration optimistically projects that "substantially under" 100,000 people will die from COVID-19 in the United States. Horrific as that statistic is, a new model suggests it could be a huge underestimate. The government models fail to consider the impact of the virus on the incarcerated population, who will be infected and die at higher rates. And any prison or jail outbreak is bound to spill over into the broader community

Bolivia: Social Leaders Denounce Gov't for Rights Violations
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-22
Bolivian social organizations announced Tuesday a joint statement against the de facto regime due to human rights violations during COVID-19 outbreak management in the Andean nation. | RELATED: | Evo Morales: Police Put Cochabamba Population's Health at Risk | "We have reached the point where they politized the quarantine and the health emergency. The government is using justice because now everything is intimidation, trials, and threats," affirmed Andronico Rodriguez, vice-presi…
telesurenglish.net/news/bolivia-social-leaders-denounce-government-for-hr-violations-20200422-0003.html

France finds smoking may help you RESIST Covid-19… if you don't mind dying of something else
rt.com | 2020-04-22
In a reversal of prevailing Covid-19 wisdom, a French study appears to show smokers are less at risk from the virus, affirming the results of an earlier Chinese study. The data aren't conclusive

Trump Orders U.S. Oil Companies to Halt Operations in Venezuela
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-22
President Donald Trump's Administration Tuesday ordered U.S.-based multinational oil companies to gradually shut down their activities in Venezuela. | RELATED: | U.S. Citizens Demand Trump to Halt Sanctions Against Venezuela | The Treasury Department Tuesday issued licenses for U.S. companies Chevron, Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker & Hughes, and Weatherford to operate in Venezuela until Dec. 1, 2020. | This extension of their previous permits will only allow those companies t…
telesurenglish.net/news/Trump-Orders-U.S.-Oil-Companies-to-Halt-Operations-in-Venezuela-20200422-0007.html

COVID-19: First US Deaths Took Place Weeks Earlier Than Thought
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-22
The first US deaths of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus that has become a global pandemic, succumbed weeks earlier than previously thought, officials in California said late Tuesday. | RELATED: | Trump Orders U.S. Oil Companies to Halt Operations in Venezuela | The Santa Clara Medical Examiner-Coroner said autopsies on two people who died in early and mid-February showed they had been infected by the virus. Samples sent to the Centers for Disease Control a…
telesurenglish.net/news/COVID-19-First-US-Deaths-Took-Place-Weeks-Earlier-Than-Thought-20200422-0017.html

COVID-19 to cause biggest economic contraction ever in Latin America & Caribbean
news.un.org | 2020-04-21
The COVID-19 pandemic will herald the worst economic contraction in the history of Latin American and the Caribbean, with a projected -5.3 per cent drop in activity this year, according to a report by the UN office for the region, ECLAC, published on Tuesday.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/04/1062292

Coronavirus Capitalism: Entrenching Dispossession and Dependency
Colin Todhunter | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-04-21
There is surprisingly a certain degree of optimism around at the moment, despite virtually entire populations and economies on lockdown. Although things are really bad for millions right now due to the effects of lockdown, economist Mariana Mazzucato believes that the Covid-19 crisis will shine light on societal and economic systems all across the world, …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/04/coronavirus-capitalism-entrenching-dispossession-and-dependency/

New Orleans community unites in solidarity with large homeless population during pandemic lockdown
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-04-21
New Orleans, LA – Community members and workers have come together to provide basic emergency relief to thousands of houseless people in New Orleans. After coronavirus locked down the city, they organized a group called Southern Solidarity. The organization works to make up for city officials' failures in providing food, water and supplies to houseless people. | Southern Solidarity brings together dozens of volunteers on a daily basis. Most of them are furloughed workers who are otherwise social distancing. Volunteers wear masks, gloves, face shields and wash their hands regularly to confront the emergency in a s…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/4/21/new-orleans-community-unites-solidarity-large-homeless-population-during-pandemic-lockdown

Experts Warn: Years of US Intervention Have Set the Stage for a Deadly Coronavirus Outbreak in Haiti
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-04-20
Since 2004, successive administrations have partnered with Washington to loot Haiti, stripping away its assets to the point of collapse and leaving it woefully unprepared to face the coming pandemic.
mintpressnews.com/us-intervention-haiti-set-stage-deadly-coronavirus-outbreak/266794/

The Important Role of the Gig Economy Worker in Times of Crisis
Beau Peters | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-04-18
Photo Credit: Kai Pilger, Unsplash In 2017, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 55 million Americans were gig economy workers, making up 34% of the working population. At that time, it was expected for the number to rise to 43%, but due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the gig economy is changing. Currently, about …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/04/the-important-role-of-the-gig-economy-worker-in-times-of-crisis/

A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform
aclu.org | 2020-04-17

| For decades, marijuana laws have been used to criminalize Black and Brown peo…
aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/a-tale-of-two-countries-racially-targeted-arrests-in-the-era-of-marijuana-reform

Corporate Media Cover for US Mob Threats Against Venezuela
Lucas Koerner | fair.org | 2020-04-15
The Trump administration unveiled on March 31 a "democratic transition" plan to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from office, in favor of a "council of state" composed of both opposition and ruling party loyalists. | The plan was, however, less an offer to negotiate than a diktat, with the US State Department ( 3/31/20) vowing that "sanctions will remain in effect, and increase, until the Maduro regime accepts a genuine political transition." | Despite the obvious mafioso over…
fair.org/home/corporate-media-cover-for-us-mob-threats-against-venezuela/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=corporate-media-cover-for-us-mob-threats-against-venezuela

HaàØti au bord du précipice en raison des ravages du coronavirus et des dirigeants imposés par les États-Unis
Jeb Sprague | thegrayzone.com | 2020-04-14
Alors que le gouvernement d'HaàØti, soutenu par les États-Unis et largement méprisé, encourage officiellement la distanciation sociale pour restreindre la…
thegrayzone.com/2020/04/14/haiti-coronavirus-etats-unis/

Federal Wardens Must Immediately Flatten the Curve in our Nation's Prisons
Kanya Bennett | aclu.org | 2020-04-13
With 10 deaths and more than 500 positive COVID-19 cases in the nation's federal prisons, wardens must " move with dispatch" to " move vulnerable inmates out of these institutions." These are the words that Attorney General William Barr used on April 3rd when he directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to reduce the federal prison population in the wake of COVID-19…
aclu.org/news/prisoners-rights/federal-wardens-must-immediately-flatten-the-curve-in-our-nations-prisons

Colonialism & coronavirus: 800,000 Haitians may die of COVID-19
Anya Parampil | thegrayzone.com | 2020-04-09
Gutted by US-allied, neoliberal governments which have controlled the country since 2004, Haiti's healthcare sector braces for a potential catastrophe….
thegrayzone.com/2020/04/09/colonialism-coronavirus-haitians-covid/

Human Rights Watch cabildea por sanciones letales contra Nicaragua y Venezuela, mientras arrecia la crisis de Covid-19
Ben Norton | thegrayzone.com | 2020-04-20
Human Rights Watch está orgullosamente asumiendo el crédito por sanciones devastadoras contra Nicaragua, mientras busca escalar la guerra económica en…
thegrayzone.com/2020/04/20/human-rights-watch-sanciones-nicaragua-venezuela/

Wildlife Camera Captures Rare Video of Persian Leopard
The Iranian | iranian.com | 2020-04-21
The Persian leopard, also known as the Caucasian leopard is a leopard population in the Caucasus, Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia.
iranian.com/2020/04/20/wildlife-camera-captures-rare-video-of-persian-leopard/

Database Inaccuracies and Disparities in Care Among Hospitalized Homeless Adults
Essien UR, Paul DW, Jr, Kushel M. | jamanetwork.com | 2020-04-01
To the Editor In a recent issue of JAMA Internal Medicine, Wadhera and colleagues reported that hospitalized adults experiencing homelessness are less likely than those who were not homeless to undergo indicated cardiovascular interventions, including coronary angiography, percutaneous coronary intervention, and coronary artery bypass graft. Those who were homeless experienced higher mortality rates. Their study adds to the literature on poor health outcomes in homeless populations by demonstrating that disparities may, in part, be because of disparities in care provided to hospitalized patients.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2763746

Implementation of HIV Self-Testing Program in New York City–Reply
MacGowan RJ, Chavez PR, Mermin JH. | jamanetwork.com | 2020-04-01
In Reply We were pleased to read the letter from Edelstein and colleagues about successful HIV self-testing programs supported by the New York City Health Department since 2015. The distribution of HIV self-tests to men who have sex with men and to other at-risk populations has the potential to increase HIV testing, awareness of HIV infection, and to initiate access to treatment and prevention services for more than 150‚ÄØ000 people living in the country with undiagnosed HIV. HIV testing programs could distribute HIV self-tests via the internet, community-based organizations, or other avenues. T…
jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2763753