The Evening Blues - 3-17-20



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The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Ernie K-Doe

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features New Orleans r&b singer Ernie K-Doe. Enjoy!

Ernie K-Doe - Mother-In-Law

"It’s interesting how the virus which might knock down the most powerful government in the world behaves so much like that government: dominating world affairs and killing the most vulnerable members of the populations it attacks. Nations which are being smashed with US sanctions have already been watching their frail and elderly die of inadequate medical care and malnutrition, and now with the coronavirus they’re experiencing those same exact effects squared. Which is why places like Iran are being hit so uniquely hard. America is like if COVID-19 was a country."

-- Caitlin Johnstone


News and Opinion

Here are a some of the nine thoughts:

Nine Thoughts On COVID-19 And What’s Coming

The US became a superpower after being left intact while competing nations were stuck rebuilding themselves from two devastating world wars, allowing it to surge ahead of the competition. China, as we’ve discussed here many times, has been poised to overtake America as the dominant world power, so it’s possible we’ll see China’s relative success and America’s relative failure on this front dance in a way which gives a significant boost in that direction in the same way the US was given a boost by the world wars. It’s very likely China comes out of this notably further along in its agenda to create a multipolar world than before this all began.

And the US of course realizes this threat, which is why my social media notifications right now are full of propagandized human livestock bleating about China being the Latest Official Bad Guy who I absolutely must believe very bad things about. A dying empire knows it’s going to need to take some drastic, dangerous measures to secure world dominance in the face of a surging contender, and it knows it needs to manufacture consent for those drastic, dangerous measures. Anti-China propaganda has been pouring into mainstream consciousness with more and more aggression lately, first and foremost within right-wing echo chambers but also within mainstream liberal ones – Joe Biden compared the Chinese government to Jack the Ripper just last night.

The result has been rank-and-file westerners beginning to lose their minds about China, which has looked exactly like a right-wing mirror of the Russia hysteria we watched unfold throughout late 2016 and early 2017. I have been encountering far more hysterical anti-China sentiment online than I was even a week or two ago; a poll published at the beginning of this month reports US anti-China sentiment is at a 20-year high, and I’ll wager if they took it again today it would be significantly worse.

People are now constantly shrieking about how authoritarian the Chinese government is, which is stupid, because China has always had an authoritarian government. It hasn’t changed; the only thing that’s changed is the narrative management, with glaring adjustments like the mass media reporting on the Hong Kong protests vastly more than the anti-government demonstrations in US empire-aligned nations like France. All this irrelevant emphasis on where the virus originated isn’t there to protect you from the virus, it’s there to make China look bad. China is no more of a threat to you than it was two years ago; the only thing that’s changed is you’re now being hammered with narratives about how threatening it is. Mass media converging upon a single empire-targeted nation is never a good thing.

...

Also interesting is watching people react to the way so many of the corporate and government policies which have been causing ordinary human beings to suffer great pains are now simply being canceled all around the world in response to the pandemic. This Slate article documents a number of the changes which have been made just in America, like how for people being thrown in jail for minor offenses, “San Antonio is one of many jurisdictions to announce that, to keep jails from being crowded with sick citizens, they’ll stop doing that. Why were they doing it in the first place?” Or how “Trump has instructed government agencies who administer loans to waive interest accrual for the duration of the crisis. But why on earth is our government charging its own citizens interest anyway?”

We’re seeing immense burdens lifted from people with an easy “Oh, that’s making the pandemic worse? Okay we’ll stop that then.” And we’re seeing people react with fully justified indignation with, “Well why were you doing that to me in the first place??”

And the answer is very simple: because until now, your suffering wasn’t exacerbating a virus which does not discriminate on the basis of class. Politicians and billionaires are just as capable of losing their lives and loved ones to this virus as anyone else, as the CEO of Universal Music Group just learned with his COVID-19 hospitalization. Simply not causing needless human suffering wasn’t enough to get them to stop crushing people; it had to actually show up on their doorstep to make a difference.

Who Wants a Revolution? No One Who Owns a Major Media Outlet

Just a few weeks ago, early Bernie Sanders primary victories had media scrambling to turn winning into losing (FAIR.org, 2/24/20) and to find ways to discredit his rise (FAIR.org, 2/28/20, 3/6/20; Slate, 3/6/20). With a sudden turnaround in the race after Super Tuesday that finds Joe Biden in the lead both in polls and delegates, media have been quick to spin the reversal as a rejection of progressive politics.

The Washington Post‘s Eugene Scott (3/12/20) argued that

the losses of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) this week with demographic groups and in states he won in 2016 are prompting questions about whether there ever was as much support for his revolutionary politics as some previously believed…

Michigan’s white working-class voters — many of them men — backing Sanders in 2016 gave the impression that these voters might be more liberal politically on labor issues than they actually were. But in backing Biden on Tuesday, these voters communicated that if given a chance, they are more likely to support the centrist politics of the former vice president than the revolutionary worldview of a democratic socialist in Trump’s America.

New York Times editorial board member Michelle Cottle’s column (3/11/20) was headlined “Democrats Aren’t in the Mood for Your Revolution”:

Another round of Democratic voters registered their presidential preferences on Tuesday, sending a message strikingly similar to the one from Super Tuesday: They are tired of being scared, they are tired of being angry and they are not in the mood for a revolution.

While the argument that a vote for Biden is a rejection of Sanders’ worldview is plausible on its face, it’s simply not supported by the facts. As every pundit knows, votes are a very blunt instrument for communication of policy preferences; a more accurate instrument would be a poll that actually asks them for those preferences. And in fact, we have lots of those—including exit polls from the primaries that asked about the signature difference between Sanders and Biden: “a government plan for all or private health insurance.”

In Michigan, where voters backed Biden over Sanders 53% to 36%, exit polls showed those same voters picked the government plan over private health insurance by a remarkable 57% to 39%. In Texas, which also handed more delegates to Biden, voters supported a government plan by even more (64% to 33%), while even in conservative South Carolina, where Biden received more than twice as many votes as Sanders, private insurance still lost out (49% to 46%).  (Note that the polling question used the “government vs. private” formula promoted by the insurance industry—FAIR.org, 7/1/19—rather than the more neutral “public vs. private” or “government vs. corporate.”)

Some pundits acknowledged the polls, but still wouldn’t change their conclusions. The Washington Post‘s Dana Milbank (3/3/20) looked at exit polls, but instead of telling readers the numbers, offered his own interpretation of them:

Super Tuesday revealed a party still divided by ideology and demographics. Democrats were split on Medicare for All. As usual, Sanders did well among the very liberal, Biden among moderates. The young voted by a lopsided margin for Sanders, while older voters turned out for Biden.

Those divisions won’t disappear anytime soon, which is all the more reason for Democrats to focus on the one thing they all agree on: beating Trump. The voters just made clear they believe Biden is the one to do that.

Obviously, calling Democrats “split” on Medicare for All is hardly a fair characterization of the exit polls, but a fair characterization would make it harder to argue, as Milbank did, that the solution is to simply ignore the preferences of a majority of Democrats and support Biden without criticism. ...

There were some acknowledgments of the popularity of progressive policy positions. In the LA Times, for instance, a front-page article (3/15/20) was headlined, “Has Sanders Won the Ideological Battle?; Regardless of the Outcome, He Shaped the Policy Contours of This Democratic Race.” Yet even while reporting that “polling backs up Sanders’ claim that voters, particularly Democrats, look favorably on his call for broad policy change,” the conclusion is roughly the same: “Electability, not progressive purity, appears to be the prime motivator for Democratic voters.”

Of course, that raises the question that is almost never answered in such outlets: Why do Democratic voters think Biden is the more electable candidate, even if they like Sanders’ policy positions better? Why, if in head-to-head polling—our best available data on who is “electable”—Sanders has consistently done as well if not better than Biden over the months, have Democrats been convinced to vote against their own preferences?

The pundits appear willfully ignorant of their own role in shaping electability narratives. In the debates, electability was a favorite topic of the journalists doling out questions, and the message (evidence be damned) was clear: Sanders is unelectable. As we reported after studying every debate question prior to Super Tuesday (FAIR.org, 2/29/20), Sanders’ electability was questioned more than four times as often as Biden’s (21 to 5). While Biden’s lackluster campaign performance had prompted much commentary about whether he could win the primaries, the chorus of pundits and “experts” in political coverage counseled that this year, as always, the center is the one and only place for Democrats to find electability (e.g., FAIR.org, 10/25/19).

With Biden’s victory in South Carolina, media doubts about his strength were quickly banished. He walked away with an “earned-media tsunami” of three days of almost entirely exuberant media coverage, worth in the neighborhood of $70 million (Vanity Fair, 3/5/20). By comparison, Sanders, whose massive grassroots fundraising outpaced all of his competitors, spent $50 million in the last three months of 2019 (Politico, 2/20/20).

Delhi's Muslims despair of justice after police implicated in riots

On one side of the marketplace, it was carnage. As the Hindu mob descended, Muslim-owned stalls selling car parts were slowly reduced to debris and ashes. But just 100 metres away stood two police stations. As the mob attacks came once, then twice and then a third time in this north-east Delhi neighbourhood, desperate stallholders repeatedly ran to Gokalpuri and Dayalpur police stations crying out for help. But each time they found the gates locked from the inside. For three days, no help came. ...

Since the riots broke out in Delhi at the end of February, the worst religious conflict to engulf the capital in decades, questions have persisted about the role that the Delhi police played in enabling the violence, which was predominately Hindu mobs attacking Muslims. Of the 51 people who died, at least three-quarters were Muslim, and many Muslims are still missing.

“During the recent riots in Delhi the role of the police has been very reprehensible,” said SR Darapuri, a retired senior police officer from Uttar Pradesh. “They not only openly sided with the Hindu mobs attacking Muslims but also used brutal force against them. They purposely failed to respond to the SOS calls from the Muslims trapped in many violence-hit areas. Evidently, the role of the police has been communal, unethical and unprofessional.”

Delhi’s police are under the direct control of the ruling Bharatiya Janata party government, specifically the home minister and party president, Amit Shah, who is one of the most fervent advocates of the BJP’s Hindu nationalist agenda, which aims to establish India as a Hindu, rather than secular, nation. As a result, the political agenda of the BJP government of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, which is widely seen as vehemently anti-Muslim, appears to have become firmly entrenched in the mindset of the Delhi police, which is already an overwhelmingly Hindu force.

In the weeks that have followed the riots, the alleged bias of the police has extended to accusations of a cover-up to protect the Hindu rioters and a widespread refusal to file or investigate complaints made by Muslim victims.

Spain's king renounces inheritance and cuts father's income over 'offshore fund'

Spain’s King Felipe VI has renounced his personal inheritance from his father and stripped the former king Juan Carlos of his annual stipend after it was alleged that Felipe VI was poised to receive millions of euros from a secret offshore fund with ties to Saudi Arabia. The statement issued by Spain’s royal household on Sunday evening came after a report named King Felipe as a beneficiary of an offshore fund set up by his father in 2008. At the time, Juan Carlos was still in power.

The former head of state abdicated in 2014, after a series of scandals sent his popularity plummeting. Juan Carlos, 82, had continued to receive an annual stipend from the state, however, amounting to around €194,000 (£175,000) in 2018.

The alleged offshore account, named as the Lucum Foundation, held around €65m in funds that were described as a “donation” from “the king of Saudi Arabia”, according to the Sunday Telegraph. The account was set up at an office in Panama city and tied to an account with Geneva’s Mirabaud private bank, the report added.

An investigation by Swiss prosecutors into another offshore fund allegedly tied to Juan Carlos, named Fondation Zagatka, sparked calls this month for Spain’s parliament to investigate the business dealings of the former king. The push was rejected by Spain’s Socialists and the two main parties on the right, who argued that any such probe would be unconstitutional.

According to newspaper La Tribune de Genève, prosecutors believe the fund could be linked to kickback payments after the former monarch helped to broker business deals with Saudi Arabia while in power.

Spain Locks Down & Nationalizes Private Healthcare as Coronavirus Deaths Double & Cases Skyrocket

How Jair Bolsonaro’s Son, Eduardo, Confirmed His Father’s Positive Coronavirus Test to Fox News, Then Lied About It

On Friday morning, at roughly 9:30 a.m. EST, a columnist with the large Rio de Janeiro newspaper O Dia published an article reporting that sources inside Brazil’s presidential palace had confirmed that the first coronavirus test administered to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro had been returned and indicated the president tested positive for the virus.

In Fox News studios in both New York and Washington, producers, reporters and on-air talent paid rapt attention to this story, in large part because Bolsonaro and his entourage — including a close aide who had already manifested symptoms and tested positive — had met days earlier at Mar-a-Lago with President Donald Trump, key Trump aides (including Vice President Mike Pence and Ivanka Trump), and Fox News’ prime-time anchor Tucker Carlson.

But Fox was unwilling to report something as significant as a positive coronavirus test for the Brazilian president without further confirmation. As a result, according to employees inside Fox News with first-hand knowledge of the episode but who are unauthorized to speak publicly about the matter, they decided they needed first-hand confirmation from either Bolsonaro or one of his three politician-sons. ... Fox spoke directly to Eduardo [Bolsonaro], who, Fox sources insist, stated unequivocally that his father had received the results of his first coronavirus test and it was positive; the president’s son said that they were awaiting the results of a second test. Eduardo and Fox agreed that he would be interviewed about the coronavirus test on-air via Skype at 11:30 a.m. EST. Shortly before the interview, Eduardo again confirmed that his father’s first test was positive for the presence of coronavirus. ...

The Brazilian media had exercised the same caution as Fox, unwilling to report something so momentous based solely on an anonymously-sourced report in O Dia. But once Fox News had reported the news based on Eduardo’s confirmation, they naturally began noting Fox’s report. News of the president’s positive coronavirus test spread quickly online. As soon as that happened, Eduardo went on the offensive with a standard Bolsonaro family tactic: accusing the Brazilian media of maliciously fabricating “Fake News” against his father, a particularly inflammatory accusation where it involved reports of his father’s positive coronavirus test. But when Brazilian media outlets united to make clear that the report was not theirs but Fox News’ — a network beloved by the Bolsonaros and their movement — and that the named source for the story was Eduardo himself, Eduardo had two choices: he could either admit that Fox was telling the truth and that he had confirmed the positive test to them, or he could start accusing Fox News of lying. He chose the latter.

In a series of increasingly unhinged tweets that extended into Saturday morning, Eduardo insisted that he had never told any reporter — including one at Fox — that his father had tested positive for the coronavirus. ... In response to Eduardo’s false accusations that Fox had fabricated their conversations with him, Fox News issued an avalanche of clear and emphatic denunciations. ... But the question of Bolsonaro’s health remains shrouded in mystery. And that mystery is now fueled by his son inadvertently starting a war with a news outlet they trained their followers to worship: Fox News. Eduardo Bolsonaro essentially forced Fox News to prove that the Bolsonaros are liars by accusing the network of fabricating conversations they had with him in which he clearly confirmed his father’s positive test.

Glenn Greenwald: Is Bolsonaro covering up his coronavirus test results?

With Nation Focused on Coronavirus, Rights Groups Warn Senate Against Handing Trump 'Terrifying' Spy Powers

Ahead of a vote that could take place in the Senate as soon as Monday evening, civil liberties groups and federal lawmakers critical of mass surveillance spoke out against House-approved legislation that would reauthorize "abusive" and "dangerous" U.S. government spying powers that expired Sunday.

The Democrat-held House was widely criticized last week for passing the USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act (H.R. 6172), a bipartisan compromise negotiated by leaders in the lower chamber that includes the reauthorization of Section 215 powers that Congress established under the USA PATRIOT Act in 2001, which federal agencies have used to justify the collection of Americans' phone records.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a longtime critic of government spying powers, took to Twitter Monday to speak out against the new bill and note that there is opposition on both sides of the aisle:


As public concern over the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continued to mount, civil liberties advocates expressed alarm that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) could push through the reauthorization bill with limited scrutiny.

Sandra Fulton, government relations director for Free Press Action, wrote for Common Dreams Monday that "opposition to this legislation is gaining momentum, which is why McConnell is pushing so aggressively for a vote today while so much of the nation is focused on the coronavirus crisis."

Coronavirus Capitalism — and How to Beat It

I’ve spent two decades studying the transformations that take place under the cover of disaster. I’ve learned that one thing we can count on is this: During moments of cataclysmic change, the previously unthinkable suddenly becomes reality. In recent decades, that change has mainly been for the worst — but this has not always been the case. And it need not continue to be in the future.

This video is about the ways the still-unfolding Covid-19 crisis is already remaking our sense of the possible.

Saagar Enjeti: The largest populist uprising in HISTORY is coming

Wow, guns and ammo are selling like toilet paper.

US sales of guns and ammunition soar amid coronavirus panic buying

Sales of guns and ammunition are soaring across the US as fears of possible social unrest amid the coronavirus crisis are prompting some Americans to turn to firearms as a form of self-protection.

On the west coast, long lines of customers were queueing up outside gun stores to stock up on deadly materials. At the Martin B Retting gun shop in Culver City, California, the queues stretched round the block throughout the weekend.

One customer told the LA Times: “Politicians and anti-gun people have been telling us for the longest time that we don’t need guns. But right now, a lot of people are truly scared, and they can make that decision themselves.”

Larry Hyatt, owner of one of the country’s largest gun shops, Hyatt Guns in Charlotte, North Carolina, told the Guardian that the scenes of mass buying at his store were virtually unprecedented. “This is only the second time in my 61 years of business that we’ve seen anything like this,” he said, adding that the first occasion was the aftermath of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut in 2012. ...

A major online dealer of ammunition, Ammo.com, has put out figures for sales from 23 February to 4 March that give an indication of the scale of the surge. In that 11-day period sales increased 68% compared to the 11 days up to 23 February. Sales were especially pronounced in North Carolina and Georgia, which experienced a leap of 179% and 169% respectively. Other states with large increases included Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida, Illinois and New York.

Aaron Glantz: Is Washington prepping another bailout for the rich?

Trump says coronavirus upheaval could last beyond August

Subdued into realism, Donald Trump has warned that social upheaval caused by the coronavirus outbreak could last beyond August.

The US president, who previously claimed the virus would soon disappear “like a miracle”, struck a less bombastic tone on Monday and sought to manage expectations when asked how long “the new normal” will be in place.

“We’ll see what happens but they think August, could be July,” Trump told reporters at the White House, “Could be longer than that.” He added: “I’ve spoken actually with my son. He said: ‘How bad is this?’ It’s bad. It’s bad.”

On another day of nationwide upheaval and tumbling stocks, with US confirmed cases of coronavirus surpassing 4,000, Trump unveiled aggressive new guidelines for the next 15 days in a bid to slow the spread of the virus.

He urged Americans to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people and said citizens should avoid discretionary travel and not go to bars, restaurants, food courts or gyms. Older people are asked to stay at home.

Inside Prison Amid Coronavirus Pandemic: Incarcerated Journalist Says Millions Behind Bars at Risk

Trump's attempt to buy a coronavirus vaccine shows why big pharma needs to change

The news that Donald Trump has sought to buy up the exclusive rights to a promising Covid-19 vaccine from a German biotech firm has been greeted with anger. During a global crisis, when all of humanity is at risk, our sense of fairness – and our own self-interest – makes this shameless attempt to buy the right to life (with little regard for those it excludes) seem immoral.

But this is about more than just Trump. Coronavirus should give us pause to reflect upon whether the pharmaceutical industry, and the monopolies that drive its profits, should continue to control which medicines will be developed, and who will get to access them.

Profit is what drives decision-making in the pharmaceuticals industry. It’s why we don’t have drugs to treat diseases such as tuberculosis, which kill millions of the world’s poor every year – and it’s also why we aren’t closer to finding a vaccine for Covid-19. This isn’t the first coronavirus to threaten the world, after all. Researchers had a promising candidate to treat viruses like Sars and coronavirus in 2016, but with little money to be made, they instead focused their efforts on more lucrative lines of business. ...

As companies are starting to see the potential for profit in Covid-19, investment has grown; like almost every drug brought to market, the public sector will play a critical role in funding almost every candidate vaccine and treatment. But there is a huge risk that without government intervention, any vaccine for coronavirus will be priced so steeply that only rich countries will be able to afford it. ...

If coronavirus teaches us anything, it should be to reject the selfish Trumpian response to this crisis, and embrace a pharmaceutical model that is driven by public interest, and which rewards the creation of universally accessible treatments. In the face of a pandemic, rampant profiteering and national exceptionalism are transparently unacceptable.

The Fed Tried to Give Away $1 Trillion to Wall Street Today and Failed

What is the world coming to when the New York Fed can’t mix up $1 trillion of almost-free money in its punch bowl and get the mega Wall Street banks to drink freely?

The New York Fed handed out $129.60 billion this morning at an average interest rate of 0.112. That was for a one-day loan to one or more of Wall Street’s trading firms. The specific names of which firms are doing the borrowing are a closely-guarded secret at the Fed – just as they were during the financial crisis in 2008 until media lawsuits and a legislative amendment forced the banks’ names out into the open. All that the public is allowed to know today is that any of the Fed’s 24 primary dealers (Wall Street trading houses) are allowed to borrow from the facility.

The New York Fed also offered $500 billion in a 28-day loan this morning and, stunningly, it only had offers for $18.45 billion of the $500 billion, which was loaned at an average interest rate of 0.151 percent.

Despite that poor showing at its money spigot party this morning, the New York Fed made a surprise announcement and said it was throwing another money giveaway of $500 billion at 1:30 p.m. today. Again, only takers for $19.40 billion of the $500 billion showed up. The loans were made at the incredibly low average interest rate of 0.102 percent.

There was this same lack of demand last Thursday and Friday when the Fed tried to give away, almost for free, $1.5 trillion over the two-day span.

Keiser Report | Looking Very 1929

US airline industry seeks $50bn bailout amid coronavirus pandemic

US airlines are seeking a $50bn bailout as the industry staggers in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Airlines for America, which represents major carriers including American Airlines, Delta and United, is calling for immediate relief in the form of direct aid and loan guarantees.

“This is a today problem, not a tomorrow problem. It requires urgent action,” said Airlines for America president Nicholas Calio.

The Trump administration has already signaled a willingness to come to the aid of some of the industries that have so far been hardest hit by the virus, including the airlines. If the package was granted it would be the largest industry bailout since the government interventions after the 2008 financial crisis and the airlines’ first broad bailout since September 11, 2001’s terrorist attacks.

Public Health Experts: Single-Payer Systems Coping With Coronavirus More Effectively Than For-Profit Model

As the coronavirus pandemic places extraordinary strain on national healthcare systems around the world, public health experts are making the case that countries with universal single-payer systems have thus far responded more efficiently and effectively to the outbreak than nations like the United States, whose fragmented for-profit apparatus has struggled to cope with the growing crisis.

"It is too soon to see definite outcomes among competing healthcare systems. But even in this early phase, public health experts say the single-payer, state-run systems are proving themselves relatively robust," the Washington Post reported Sunday. "Unlike the United States, where a top health official told Congress the rollout of testing was 'failing' and where Congress is only now moving through a bill that includes free testing, the single-payer countries have been especially nimble at making free, or low-cost, virus screening widely available for patients with coughs and fevers."

While the Trump administration only recently took steps to massively expand COVID-19 testing—sparking concerns that the outbreak in the U.S. is far more severe than official numbers suggest—countries with forms of single-payer healthcare like South Korea and Denmark have for weeks been offering "drive-through" testing and other innovative mechanisms, allowing them to quickly test hundreds of thousands of their citizens and respond accordingly.

"Unhampered government intervention into the healthcare sector is an advantage when the virus is spreading fast across the country," said Choi Jae-wook, a professor of preventive medicine at Korea University in Seoul.


Jorgen Kurtzhals, the head of the University of Copenhagen medical school, told the Post that the strength of Denmark's single-payer system is that it has "a lot of really highly educated and well-trained staff, and given some quite un-detailed instructions, they can actually develop plans for an extremely rapid response."

"We don't have to worry too much about whether this response or that response demands specific payments here and there," said Kurtzhals said. "We are aware that there will be huge expenditure within the system. But we're not too concerned about it because we have a direct line of communication from the national government to the regional government to the hospital directors."

None of which is to say that countries with forms of single-payer healthcare or nationalized systems are flawlessly handling the COVID-19 pandemic, which has infected at least 173,000 people and killed more than 6,000 worldwide.

Britain's National Health Service (NHS), following years of austerity imposed by Conservative governments, is facing staff and supply shortages as hospitals are being overwhelmed with patients. Canada, like the U.K., is struggling with a shortage of ventilators.

But Helen Buckingham, director of strategy and operations at the London-based Nuffield Trust think tank, told the Post that the NHS is in a relatively good position to cope with COVID-19 because it has "a very clear emergency planning structure."

Additionally, Buckingham noted, "there is no need for people to worry about the tests or vaccine or cost of care if people become ill." ...

During the Democratic presidential primary debate Sunday night in Washington, D.C., former Vice President Joe Biden cited Italy's struggles to contain COVID-19 as evidence that the Medicare for All system advocated by rival candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) would not be effective in a pandemic. Italy has been the hardest-hit country outside China with nearly 25,000 cases of the novel coronavirus.

"With all due respect for Medicare for All, you have a single-payer system in Italy," said Biden. "It doesn't work there."

Critics were quick to take issue with Biden's talking point. "[Single-payer] isn't the reason Italy is having problems," tweeted HuffPost healthcare reporter Jonathan Cohn. "Italy's problem is health system capacity. Independent of health system design."


Dr. David Himmelstein, co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program and distinguished professor of public health at the City University of New York at Hunter College, said in a statement Sunday night that the "fragmented system" in the United States "leaves public health separate and disconnected from medical care, and provides no mechanism to appropriately balance funding priorities."

"As a result, public health accounts for less than 3 percent of overall health expenditures, a percentage that has been falling for decades, and is about half the proportion in Canada or the U.K.," said Himmselstein. "One result is that state and local health departments that are the front lines in dealing with epidemics have lost 50,000 position since 2008 due to budget cuts."

Pelosi's Coronavirus Compromise Has Left Even Tom Cotton Saying This Bill 'Doesn't Go Far Enough and Fast Enough'

Progressives and political journalists were not the only observers pointing out glaring weaknesses in the coronavirus relief bill pushed by House Democrats—as the U.S. Senate took up the legislation, at least two Senate Republicans said publicly that bolder initiatives offering direct assistance to Americans during the pandemic should be included in a relief package.

"Every American adult should immediately receive $1,000 to help ensure families and workers can meet their short-term obligations and increase spending in the economy," Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said Monday.

Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton also said House Democrats were insufficiently ambitious in their plan to assist Americans, officially called the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

The bill includes free coronavirus testing for all Americans, strengthened nutritional assistance and unemployment programs, and paid sick leave—but leaves millions of Americans out of the latter provision, allowing large companies employing more than 500 people to forgo paid sick leave for workers.

"The House relief bill doesn't go far enough and fast enough," Cotton tweeted. "We're going to do everything we can to get cash into the hands of affected workers and families as quickly as possible so we can all get through this pandemic together." ...

Journalist Adam Johnson of The Appeal viewed Romney's and Cotton's calls for more far-reaching assistance with skepticism and denounced Pelosi for giving Republicans the opportunity to cast themselves as being firmly on the side of working Americans.

"They're obviously cynical phonies but this is what happens when the most powerful Democrat in the country is a conservative deficit scold who constantly nickel and dimes emergency relief bills during a mass crisis," Johnson tweeted.




the horse race



Illinois TV Station Airs Election Results BEFORE Election! WTF?!?

Worth a full read, there's far more than can be fairly abstracted, including a demonstration of CAP and Neera Tanden's utter idiocy in the face of a pandemic.

Thousands Call on Arizona, Florida, Illinois, and Ohio to Postpone Tomorrow’s Primaries

On Monday afternoon, Ohio’s Republican Gov. Mike DeWine recommended the state should not go forward with in-person voting on Tuesday in accordance with CDC guidelines.


But DeWine’s recommendation was struck down by a judge hours later. Unless it is appealed, Ohio voting will be ordered ahead as planned, likely setting the stage for confusion tomorrow. According to local reports, the judge cited his own lack of authority on the matter: “There are too many factors to balance in this uncharted territory to say that we ought to take it away from the legislature and elected statewide officials, and throw it to a common pleas court judge in Columbus,” said the judge. He also noted that absentee ballots have been available for a month, and we’ve known about the novel coronavirus since January. (CDC restrictions on gatherings of more than 50 were put in place on Sunday.)

The move follows days of pressure for the four states scheduled to vote on Tuesday — Arizona, Florida, Illinois, and Ohio — to postpone their primaries. In an open letter, more than 1,600 people, including 100 medical professionals, called for the next round of presidential primaries to be postponed amid the coronavirus pandemic. All of the four states scheduled to vote on Tuesday have declared a state of emergency in response to the outbreak. The decision to hold both the Democratic and Republican primary elections — which have closed down schools, restaurants, and bars to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus — could exponentially grow the amount of cases and death toll. In Arizona, the state Republican Party decided months ago not to hold a presidential primary.

The letter, which is addressed to the Democratic National Committee and the secretaries of state for the four states, calls for those states to push their primaries to May. ... A DNC spokesperson said that the party does not control whether the primaries go forward on Tuesday, and that the decision lies with the states themselves.

Arizona Election Official Bizarrely Announces Poll Closings

Pandemic Planning Should Ensure All Votes Can Be Cast by Mail in November, Experts Say

As states scrambled to conduct primary elections this week while discouraging citizens from gathering in large groups in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Senate Democrats and election experts pressed Congress to act immediately on legislation to ensure that voters in all 50 states will be able to cast ballots by mail or vote early in the general election if the public health emergency lasts into November.

That is particularly urgent because, as Marc Elias, a lawyer who represents the Democratic Party on voting rights issues, explains, while states can set their own primary days, “the federal general election is set by federal statute as the the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. This date cannot be changed by a state nor by the President.”

Democratic senators Ron Wyden, of Oregon, and Amy Klobuchar, of Minnesota, introduced legislation on Monday that would require all states to offer an option for voters to mail in or drop off hand-marked paper ballots if 25 percent of the states have declared a state of emergency related to an infectious disease, like Covid-19, or a natural disaster. ...

If enacted, the new law would force 16 states that still have restrictions on who can request an absentee ballot to remove them. ...

Wyden and Klobuchar’s bill includes $500 million in federal funding to cover the cost of providing prepaid envelopes to voters and to for states to purchase high-speed scanners to quickly count tens of millions of absentee ballots.

Krystal and Saagar blast Dem establishment for putting voters at risk to protect Biden

Biden Adviser Compares Sanders at Debate to the 'Kind of Protester Who Often Shows Up at Campaign Events'

Anita Dunn, a senior adviser to former Vice President Joe Biden, faced a bevy of criticism after saying Sunday night that Sen. Bernie Sanders behaved like the "kind of protester who often shows up at campaign events" during the 11th Democratic presidential debate.

Similar versions of Dunn's remark from a post-debate call with journalists were reported by Janet Hook at the Los Angeles Times, Ken Thomas at the Wall Street Journal, and Natasha Korecki of Politico. Dunn said Biden dealt with the Vermont senator "graciously."


Sanders surrogates, political commentators, and some journalists charged that Dunn's comment exposed how Biden's supporters regard activists challenging the vice president's record as well as voters and politicians in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

As Jeet Heer, national affairs correspondent at The Nation, put it: "The Biden people have nothing but contempt for the progressive wing of the party." ...

Dunn's comment also came in the wake of activists with various groups interrupting a Biden rally in Detroit last week to call out the former vice president for supporting the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and pressure him to fully embrace the Green New Deal. Biden said of the protesters, "The Bernie bros are here!"

In response to Dunn's comment Sunday, author and activist Naomi Klein, a Sanders surrogate, said: "Let this sink in. Understand that all of us in the Sanders campaign are seen as nothing but trespassers on their party property and they absolutely cannot wait to call the cops."


Ryan Grim, The Intercept's D.C. bureau chief, also suggested the comment could have consequences for the vice president at the ballot box. "What could motivate a Biden adviser to say something like this?" said Grim. "Shouldn't this level of contempt be kept to dinner parties and green rooms?"

Krystal Ball: Biden not fit to save workers in crisis



the evening greens


China's Air Quality Is About to Get a Whole Lot Worse Because of Coronavirus

The coronavirus pandemic gave China something it hasn’t seen in years: bright, blue, smog-free skies.

That’s about to change.

The country is already planning to relax environmental rules to allow Chinese factories idled during the epidemic to get back up to speed. The Chinese government is signaling that addressing pollution won’t be a top priority. The government insists that environment standards remain in place — they just won’t be enforced as aggressively.

“The environmental supervision should be adjusted in accordance with practical needs and social economic situation,” said Cao Liping, director of Ecological and Environmental Enforcement bureau at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, at a press briefing last week.

Experts have been warning that the virus could lead to an increase in pollution after the pandemic passes as countries try to make up for losses from production slowdowns during the pandemic.

Trump says government will buy crude oil to help industry

President Trump said Friday that the U.S. would purchase "large quantities" of crude oil in order to help the industry, which has been hit by sinking prices this week.

"Based on the price of oil, I’ve also instructed the Secretary of Energy to purchase, at a very good price, large quantities of crude oil for storage in the U.S. Strategic Reserve," he said during a Friday appearance in the Rose Garden to discuss the coronavirus. "We're going to fill it right up to the top."

An Energy Department official told The Hill in an email that the strategic reserve has the capacity to store up to 77 million additional barrels of crude oil.

As of Friday afternoon, American oil prices appeared to be slightly over $33 per barrel. If the U.S. were to purchase the full 77 million barrels to fill the strategic reserve at $33 per barrel, it would cost more than $2.5 billion.

Trump said that the move would assist the U.S. oil industry and help the country achieve energy independence.


Also of Interest

Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.

The Pandemic May Cause A Global Depression - We Need Demand Side Measures To Counter It

Overcrowded Border Hearings Risk Spreading the Coronavirus

Like It or Not, Donald Trump Won the Biden-Sanders Debate

Bernie Sanders lost his last chance to take Joe Biden down

A 'Never Biden' movement vows not to vote for Joe

'Dead Sea Scrolls fragments' at Museum of the Bible are all fakes, study says

Ryan Grim: Is Biden risking voters' health to win?

Progressive challenger: How we overcame Chuck Schumer meddling

What should Bernie Sanders do next?


A Little Night Music

Ernie K-Doe - Make You Love Me

Ernie K Doe - Dancin' Man

Ernie K-Doe - Waiting At The Station

Ernie K-Doe - The Fight

Ernie K Doe - Little Marie

Ernie K Doe - Te Ta Te Ta Ta

Ernie K Doe - Popeye Joe

Ernie K-Doe - A Certain Girl

Ernie K. Doe - Later For Tomorrow

Ernie K. Doe - Crazy 'Bout Your Rock

Ernie K-doe - Love Me Like I Wanta


Share
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18 users have voted.

Comments

and one more

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10 users have voted.

@gjohnsit

thanks for that blast from the past
reminds me of the time, early 80's
my gal got tickets to see them in PHX

she was so excited, she showed up a week early
oops - no concerto - wrong date
deflated the anticipation a bit

a high energy band

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7 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@gjohnsit

thanks for the tunes!

here's a little picker upper for you:

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4 users have voted.

and thanks in advance for the EB. I will read and watch later in the evening. Just wanted to share this clip which, in the words of the young man who created the website, is "cool". I agree, it is very cool. I think many may find it useful as well.

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6 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@randtntx

happy reading!

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2 users have voted.

@joe shikspack forgot to include the clip.

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4 users have voted.
econoclast's picture

I offer this exceptional essay by an economic historian:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/03/17/cubas-contribution-to-combatting...

This essay not only reveals what Cuba is doing right, but the fact that American foreign policy continues to prohibit people from benefiting, punishing people and countries from doing business with Cuba. This has been true for all my adult life. And it reveals what Bernie Sanders clumsily referred to and for which he has been hammered ever since.

It also shows, by the reference to Carter, that a president who cares about the country’s population was willing to relax things a bit. Something the Narcissist in Chief is incapable of doing.

If this essay speaks to you, please distribute to your lists.

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12 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@econoclast

thanks for the article! cuba has been remarkably innovative in a variety of fields, managing to bring the talents of its people to bear on an assortment of problems despite interference from the biggest bully on the block.

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5 users have voted.
enhydra lutris's picture

just lying about shit to make us look bad. Wink No way they could pull that off with thier socialized health care system. Haven't had time to watch vids or listen yet, gotta go get dinner started first, and then come back and take care of business. In the meantime, keep in mind that Bacardi 151 should be great emergency hand sanitizer and moderate qualtities can maybe disinfect your mouth and throat too.

Have a good one.

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11 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

@enhydra lutris

yum, good for all kinda of things
those clever cubanos

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6 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@enhydra lutris

it's all just a hoax to make donald trump look bad.

heh, i vaguely remember the night that my date sneaked a couple of pints of 151 into a grateful dead show. it was the last time i ever drank 151. might make an ok hand sanitizer, though. Smile

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8 users have voted.
enhydra lutris's picture

@joe shikspack
for us to smuggle those huge wicker wrapped bottles across the border and teenage beach parties being what they are ... One of the worst drunks in my entire life. ;-(

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5 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Azazello's picture

@joe shikspack
I did have one experience with Everclear, the less said about that the better.
What 151 is really good for is dessert, Bananas Foster.
That's where you pan-fry bananas in butter and sugar and then flambe with 151.
Warm the rum first, the flame will be dramatic.

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6 users have voted.

We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

joe shikspack's picture

@Azazello

well, you haven't missed much having not consumed 151. i agree, in addition to a substitute for hand sanitizer, it would also be an acceptable substitute for sterno.
Smile

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5 users have voted.
Azazello's picture

@joe shikspack
but never really drank a lot of it.
I've never even tried the canned heat.
I don't think that would be so good on the bananas.
Looks like Biden is winning in AZ, no surprise.
Arizona Secretary of State

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2 users have voted.

We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

joe shikspack's picture

@Azazello

at least arizona is closer than illinois and floriduh. still, it looks like a sweep for the bidenator.

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4 users have voted.
Azazello's picture

Here's some vids to cheer you up.
This is good, I watched it yesterday live.
Dylan Ratigan Reports From The Future In Italy
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_rAWAkKVHg width:500 height:300]
Lee Camp: We're On Our Own: Don't Wait For The Ruling Elite
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1cGjHncCVg width:500 height:300]
Rick Sanchez w/Richard Wolff: This is like nothing ever experienced
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J9umPgf_Gk width:500 height:300]

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10 users have voted.

We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

joe shikspack's picture

@Azazello

thanks for the videos. boy, that jimmy dore video brings home what happens when you allow neoliberal parasites to apply austerity to your healthcare system.

there may be a great demand for neoliberal hides for decorative purposes when people figure this out.

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5 users have voted.
Azazello's picture

@joe shikspack
with Aaron M. on Russiagate: YouTube
Tucson is shutting down: Arizona Daily Star

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3 users have voted.

We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

joe shikspack's picture

@Azazello

i caught a bit of it when ms. shikspack put it on. wow, he's really not sparing sanders for his failure to stand up to the dnc about the primaries. i figure that it's kind of too late to berate sanders for his failure to stand up for himself (and us). we all saw what happened last time.

looks like it's time for a more aggressive political attack on the powers that be.

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8 users have voted.
Lookout's picture

Finally saw the sun today after over a week of gray skies and rain. Planted out another flat or two for spring. Kinda focusing on the garden lately.

Decided I'm finally gonna build a sauna. Have wanted to for years. So another summer project for the slo-mo construction company.

Th world is unraveling, but nature doesn't seem to mind. Spring is beautiful this year with blooms. Dogwoods have not cranked up yet, and it does not look like they will put on much of a show after last years blow out. But the daffodils, forsythia, spirea, quince and many more are showing off.

New fruit trees and bushes all seem to be putting out, so that winter project was a success (so far). Old blueberries are blooming to beat the band. Other than picking they are a no work crop and easy to freeze. Still eating last years harvest. We also still have sweet potatoes from last fall we need to work through. So despite all the craziness all is well on the homestead.

Going out for the first time in a week tomorrow. I've a few errands to run but I'm being careful...maybe over cautious. I communicated with friends I play with at the FLA folk fest to ask if it has been canceled. Not so far, but I bet it will be. It is end of May. Welcome to the new world.

Enjoyed being able to get outside in the sun today. Hope you all have those opportunities. Take care and be well. Thanks as always for the news and music joe. Best to you and yours.

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11 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

@Lookout

sounds like a good description of my life
might make a good song
watching the sun setting wicked orange
between two layers of grey clouds
thru the trees
still beauty
existent

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6 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@Lookout

it's been fairly warm during the day here for a while, the soil is warm, so spring has sprung in earnest. ms shikspack has been out in the garden. the lilacs have started to bud out and the blueberries are looking like there's going to be some action soon.

i wouldn't be surprised if your festival gets cancelled. i'm glad that i put off getting tickets for delfest this year since i'm guessing that things will not have settled down by memorial day.

take care and enjoy your day out!

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3 users have voted.
enhydra lutris's picture

An e-mail I received from Archive.org reminded me that they are there and have a ton of stuff of potential interest. It linked this page from their blog illustrating 7 things to do if you can't leave the house, check it out:

http://blog.archive.org/2020/03/16/7-things-to-do-if-you-cant-leave-the-...

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9 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

joe shikspack's picture

@enhydra lutris

i've spent many a happy hour in the live music archive.

thanks for the link!

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3 users have voted.
enhydra lutris's picture

@joe shikspack

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2 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

snoopydawg's picture

only to find the place closed. Or no election judges bothered to show up and now people are waiting in hours long lines again.. Perez is saying that any states that closes down voting are at risk of losing delegates.

But why the rush to make those states vote today? Because they have already made the graphics showing how much ByeDone is beating Bernie and they are releasing them while people are still stuck in line. Two exit polls showed the exact same number.
62/31 for ByeDone while another has his at 70/31.

This tweet nails it.

The paradox is that those who are now voting are risking their lives to "save" the country from universal healthcare coverage.

I disagree with Krystal that the DNC is going ahead with voting today because people might change their minds on ByeDone. I think it's because it has been totally rigged in advance because they are going to pressure Bernie to drop out before the rest of the country votes. This primary has been so totally rigged in favor of ByeDone more than they did it for Hillary, but they just don't give a damn how many of us know it.

Still lots of blue check twits are trying to shame people into voting because they don't want Trump to win. Utter bullshit. Democrats are just fine with him getting a second term. You know the most dangerous president in Evah! This is why democrats keep voting to give him more power every chance they get.
Fuck em! Sideways and hard!

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11 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

@snoopydawg

just doesn't pass the sniff test

most polled voters want compassionate health care
as opposed to insurance industry bonanzas

is why the powers are obfuscating voting options
in the midst of a health crises

schew stinks of dirty fingers

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5 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

@snoopydawg

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/amphtml/mollyhensleyclancy/coronavirus-illi...

"It feels very rushed."

Ya think? There is no way they should have held it today. No judges. No machines. No sanitizers. No democracy.

This is an illegitimate primary! I will never believe ByeDone won it. Young people did turn out to vote. They weren't allowed to.

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7 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

joe shikspack's picture

@snoopydawg

looks like they've called florida and illinois for biden. i presume that the only way that the dems are going to call off primaries is if they start going for sanders.

pretty disgusting.

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7 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

@joe shikspack

This article is good too.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/criminality-democratic-party/5705869/amp?_...

Neera is being a bitch on Twitter and I told her that we see it was rigged and we aren't as stupid as she thinks we are.
Kos is also being a douchebag. One minute he's making fun of the kids on spring break. Next he's saying Bernie should have dropped out so people didn't have to come out to vote today and then he's reminding people why it's so important that they do because of the down ballot races. I replied to him too and I won't be surprised if he blocks me.

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6 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

joe shikspack's picture

@snoopydawg

gee, i am impressed with kos' attempt to blame the danger of elections on sanders. then he turns around and says that it's important to vote because of the downballot races. as if the downballot races wouldn't be happening if sanders dropped out.

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5 users have voted.

to complete my tax prep. figures.
I think I am no more than a couple of hours away from having ready for my tax preparer, but an hour is just all I can stand.
If I had been interested in bean counting, I would have gone that direction.
It is, for me, a form of torture.
I can only tolerate it in small doses.
So, I did skim, decided I will spend my evening reading most every damn thing brought forth.
Hope you are well, and wish the same for everyone here.

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9 users have voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

joe shikspack's picture

@on the cusp

i intend to procrastinate at least another week before looking at that stuff. i am good at math, but hate doing taxes. my sympathies for your hour of torture.

i am still well, no obvious signs of coronavirus here, thanks!

have a great evening and stay well!

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1 user has voted.
Creosote.'s picture

@on the cusp
I get a minor fraction of energy every day and when it's exhausted that's it.
Hope to be able to sit and write things in acct bk in a month or two.

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4 users have voted.
Granma's picture

@on the cusp 90 days because of Covid virus.

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5 users have voted.
smiley7's picture

Please take good care, you two and family. It's insane that we have people in states going to polls today, absolutely bonkers. But so was Vietnam.

When will we ever learn? After the fact sitting on a cloud somewhere ... don't think so.

The mountain was busy as hell this afternoon as i had to go and collect my gear. Wore a n95 mask, golves and used my portable o2 machine and held my hand up to keep comrades at a distance, but hey, what are most folks thinking. I mean a crowd all bunched up waiting for lifts as usual and forming mini crowds in off slope areas. Beyond my comprehension and i don't think i'm being paranoid in my thoughts. Just damn.

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8 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@smiley7

i can't believe that the polls were open today, it is total malpractice. ohio's health department did the right thing:

Coronavirus In Ohio: Health Department Orders Elective Procedures Canceled

what the hell were the health departments in illinois, florida and arizona thinking?

i guess the dnc doesn't mind risking the lives of its voters. this is certainly a demonstration of just how much they care about "the little people."

anyway, i hope that your protective measures are working well and that you remain safe and happy.

have a good one!

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7 users have voted.
boriscleto's picture

Are live streaming their traditional St. Patrick's Day concert from an empty venue. There's like 140k streaming it. Really cool of them to put this together at the last minute with some help from a Boston tech company.

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8 users have voted.

" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "

joe shikspack's picture

@boriscleto

yep, it was a good show. i don't know if they will leave the stream up, but it's worth checking out if it's still there.

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4 users have voted.
enhydra lutris's picture

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4 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

joe shikspack's picture

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4 users have voted.
Raggedy Ann's picture

Got me some chickens today! I’m stoked! Got a dozen - nice red laying hens, already 17 weeks and laying! I was down to two chickens and no eggs. I’m in business again.

Hope everyone is staying safe and well.

Have a grand evening, folks! Pleasantry

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11 users have voted.

"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

joe shikspack's picture

@Raggedy Ann

glad to hear that you've got some girls to lay eggs for you now and that your old chickens can have a rest.

have a great evening and a happy breakfast tomorrow!

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6 users have voted.
enhydra lutris's picture

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5 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

joe shikspack's picture

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2 users have voted.
enhydra lutris's picture

@joe shikspack
album, but I don't comment on youtube anyway.

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2 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

$1000 checks to all!?! Sounds like he is channeling Yang

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7 users have voted.

Fighting for democratic principles,... well, since forever

joe shikspack's picture

@fight2bfree

yep, biden is set up to run as hillary. trump ran to her left and squashed her.

hillary didn't have the record that biden does, either.

biden is going to get squashed like a bug.

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6 users have voted.
Lily O Lady's picture

@fight2bfree

And Dems just stand there with their faces hanging out. Dems are the perfect foil for the Republicans.

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6 users have voted.

"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

joe shikspack's picture

@Lily O Lady

one can only conclude that the dem leadership, especially pelosi, find it politically advantageous to get played repeatedly by the republicans.

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5 users have voted.
TheOtherMaven's picture

@joe shikspack

Win or lose, their gravy train rolls on - and if they lose, they don't even have to pretend to be doing anything.

The only real danger is a "progressive" like Sanders getting in and upsetting the applecart.

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3 users have voted.

There is no justice. There can be no peace.