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The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Ronnie Earl

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Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features blues guitarist Ronnie Earl. Enjoy!

^{Ronnie Earl w/Roomful of Blues - 3 Hours Past Midnight}

"The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear."

-- Antonio Gramsci

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News and Opinion

Lots more at the link.

Profit over people, cost over care: America's broken healthcare exposed by virus

With over 30,900 people dead and more than a 639,000 infected with the coronavirus in the US the last question on a person’s mind should be how they will pay for life-saving treatment. But as the death toll mounted, a patient who was about to be put on a ventilator in one of New York City’s stretched to capacity intensive care units had a final question for his nurse: “Who’s going to pay for it?”

Those were the patient’s final words to his medical team, Derrick Smith, nurse anesthetist at a New York City hospital wrote on Facebook last week: “Next-level heartbreak – having to hear a dying patient use his last words to worry about healthcare finances.”

In the wealthiest country in the world, the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the core of a healthcare system that is structurally incapable of dealing with the pandemic. Federal and local governments, health insurers and employers have pledged to help Americans pay their way through this crisis, but to do so requires a dramatic overhaul of a system which has for decades prioritized cost over care. “As this epidemic makes clear, at any moment, any of us could become sick, could become hospitalized, could be on a mechanical ventilator,” said Adam Gaffney, an ICU doctor in Boston. “And that, in the United States, could mean potentially ruinous healthcare costs.” ...

Since 2006, 30% of Americans each year on average have delayed any sort of medical treatment for cost, according to the polling firm Gallup. In that time, 19% of Americans each year on average have delayed treatment for a serious condition, according to Gallup’s December 2019 report. More Americans are afraid of paying for healthcare if they became seriously ill (40%) than are afraid of getting seriously ill (33%), according to a 2018 poll by the University of Chicago and the West Health Institute.

“It’s hard to fight an epidemic if people are afraid to go to the doctor, to be seen in the emergency room,” Gaffney said. “It could mean some people not getting tested, it could mean some people delaying getting care and potentially harming their own health.”

'Thriving During a Pandemic': UnitedHealth Group Posts Surge in Profits as Millions Lose Insurance and Thousands Die

"That's the story of healthcare in America today," former insurance executive Wendell Potter said Wednesday after the largest private health insurance provider in the U.S. announced that it saw a significant increase in profits over the last three months while the Covid-19 pandemic killed thousands of people and forced millions more off their employer-sponsored coverage.

UnitedHealth Group, whose CEO is an outspoken opponent of Medicare for All, said the coronavirus outbreak had "minimal impact" on its earnings in the first quarter of 2020 and is unlikely to disrupt the company's profit outlook for the rest of the year. As of Thursday morning, the novel coronavirus has officially infected more than 636,000 people and killed more than 28,000 in the United States.

"UnitedHealth Group's first quarter 2020 revenues grew $4.1 billion or 6.8% to $64.4 billion, reflecting broad-based revenue growth across Optum and UnitedHealthcare," the company said in its quarterly earnings report (pdf). Optum and UnitedHealthcare are both owned by UnitedHealth Group.

"First quarter earnings from operations grew $164 million or 3.4% year-over-year to $5.0 billion," the company said, noting that the costs of the coronavirus pandemic were offset by "lower elective care demand," meaning fewer people sought out non-essential medical treatment over the last three months as Covid-19 spread across the U.S.

Potter, a self-described "reformed insurance propagandist" who now heads the advocacy group Medicare for All NOW!, wrote in a series of tweets Wednesday that "while America's reeling from the Covid-19 crisis, my old industry—the private health insurance racket—is winning big."

"UnitedHealth easily blew away Wall Street's expectations for the first 3 months of 2020. The $5 billion it reported earning over the first 3 months of the year is actually UP 3.4% over the same quarter last year—despite losing almost 1.2 million in health plan membership," said Potter. "In other words, they're thriving during a pandemic."

Potter noted that instead of using profits to reduce premiums and out-of-pocket expenses for its customers amid the coronavirus pandemic, UnitedHealth Group "used $1.7 billion to buy back its own shares."

"The bottom line: Americans are getting sick and dying, and doctors risking their lives to save them, in this crisis," Potter wrote. "Meanwhile, health insurance companies are denying coverage and squeezing doctors to generate record profits."

UnitedHealth Group's earnings report came as Democratic lawmakers are offering competing plans on how best to tackle the coronavirus-driven healthcare crisis. According to an analysis by Covered California, the pandemic could lead insurance companies to hike premiums by as much as 40% next year even as industry profits rise.

Michael Hudson: Due now

When this is over, there’s not going to be a public sector, because the cities are going to have such low tax revenues. They’re not getting the sales tax revenues from the stores. They’re not getting income taxes from the people. They’re having huge responsibilities to pay unemployment insurance. They’re going to have to balance their budgets by privatizing all sorts of whatever is left in the public domain, from transportation to parks.

This is going to make the American economy into a grab bag. Trump says that we’re going to come out of this wonderfully. The stock market’s going to go greatly. So the Corona virus in this country is being managed as an opportunity to increase the stock market. The governor of Texas, for instance, said that we should really just go back to work. A lot of people will get sick, especially the elderly, who are most prone to die as a result of the virus. They should take it on the chin and sacrifice it for the economy. They should die off so that the economy can get back to work and the stock market can go up. The neoliberals have applauded this and the Democrats have been absolutely silent about it. Not a word from Biden, not even a word from Bernie Sanders. ...

There will be people who don’t have jobs. They are going to be evicted from their apartments. They will have run through their savings. They will not be able to pay their credit card debt and other debts so arrears are going to rise. The banks would be squeezed, but Trump says that although we can’t save the people, we can save the banks. The Federal Reserve has enough money to keep all the banks afloat, even if they’re not getting the mortgage payments, even if they’re not able to collect on their loans. The banks can now make up for the money they’re not getting by having a huge new market: lending money to private capital and to the large companies to buy out these small businesses that are going under. It’s a bonanza.

That’s what the Republicans say will make the country rich again. Meaning the One Percent. Basically, you can look at the policy as pretending to help the sick people, the Corona virus victims. But the “bailout” is really a whole wish list that corporations and neoliberals have had on the books for a year working with lawyers and law firms. They’ve pulled this off the books and all of a sudden, packed it on to the Corona virus bill. Instead of calling it the great bank giveaway and a new power grab, they’re calling it the Corona virus law.

Billionaire Investor: Why I argued billionaires, speculators should get wiped out

COVID-19 crisis makes the rich even richer

G7 backing for WHO leaves Trump isolated at virtual summit

Donald Trump found himself isolated among western leaders at a virtual G7 summit, as they expressed strong support for the World Health Organization after the US’s suspension of its funding. Health officials around the world have condemned the US president’s decision to stop his country’s funding for the UN agency, amid a crisis that has left more than 2 million people infected and almost 140,000 dead.

On Thursday, G7 leaders voiced their backing for the WHO and urged international co-operation. Immediately after the hour-long conference call, a spokesman for Angela Merkel said that the German chancellor had argued that “the pandemic can only be overcome with a strong and co-ordinated international response”. The spokesman said Merkel “expressed support for the WHO as well as a number of other partners”.

The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said: “There is a need for international coordination and the WHO is an important part of that collaboration and coordination. We recognise that there have been questions asked, but at the same time it is really important we stay coordinated as we move through this.”

The Gates Foundation also announced an extra $150m (£120m) donation, in a move the WHO welcomed.

The White House insisted there was support for US criticism of the WHO in the G7 call, saying “much of the conversation centred on the lack of transparency and chronic mismanagement of the pandemic by the WHO. The leaders called for a thorough review and reform process.” ... Trump – in a battle to save his presidency this November, and under fire over the lack of US leadership during the crisis – is widely seen to be eager to turn the pandemic into a trial of strength and influence with China.

EU offers 'heartfelt apology' to Italy over coronavirus response

The EU has offered “a heartfelt apology” to Italy for letting it down at the start of the coronavirus crisis as fresh evidence emerged that few European countries are likely to have achieved herd immunity as they begin cautiously lifting their lockdowns.

As the World Health Organization warned that the continent remained firmly “in the eye of the storm”, the president of the European commission said on Thursday that truth was needed to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic – including political honesty. “Too many were not there on time when Italy needed a helping hand at the very beginning,” Ursula von der Leyen told the European parliament. “And yes, for that it is right that Europe as a whole offers a heartfelt apology.”

Early in the crisis, both France and Germany imposed export bans on vital medical equipment, while no EU country initially responded to Italy’s call for aid via the bloc’s emergency mechanism. While healthcare policy and provision is the responsibility of member states, the EU is meant to support cooperation between them.

An opinion poll last month found that 88% of Italians felt the EU was failing to support their country, prompting fears in Brussels and other national capitals of a Eurosceptic backlash. Von der Leyen’s direct apology went further than a previous statement in which she she chided member states for their “only-for-me response”.

The neoliberal masters of the universe are just itching to get their economies going full speed ahead, damn the torpedoes corpses.

Teachers & doctors lambaste Macron's call to re-open schools by mid-May

Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, the World’s Most Powerful Coronavirus Denier, Just Fired the Health Minister Who Disagreed With Him

Brazilians “don’t know if they should listen to the health minister or if they should listen to the president,” said Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta in an interview with TV Globo on Sunday, referring to far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, one of the world’s leading coronavirus deniers.

Mandetta had repeatedly advocated a science-based approach that includes social-distancing measures and quarantines, as well as shutting down much of Brazil. The positions weren’t in accord with Bolsonaro’s. On the same day Mandetta said that the worst is yet to come and that the coronavirus peak should hit in May and June, Bolsonaro told religious leaders, “It seems like this issue of the virus is starting to go away.” ...

Bolsonaro’s health minister has become the most prominent public voice to contradict the president’s full-throated denialism, but Mandetta speaks for an overwhelming majority of governors and health experts, as well as the public. In a recent survey, 76 percent of respondents approved of the health minister’s handling of the crisis, compared to 39 percent for Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro, however, found a tidy solution to this problem: Fire the health minister. Bolsonaro chafed at having to share the spotlight with a subordinate who openly disagreed with his statements and had repeatedly threatened to remove the minister from his role. On Thursday, Mandetta was out.

'The US Knew': Report Says American Intel on Threat of Coronavirus Was Shared With Israel and NATO in November, Dismissed by Trump

An Israeli news report on Thursday revealed that the country was told in November by U.S. intelligence about the potential threat of the coronavirus—warnings that were also made to NATO and to the White House—a clear contradiction of Pentagon claims last week that no such report existed.

"The smoking gun has arrived," tweeted Joel Rubin, a former aide to the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

The Smoking Gun has arrived.

The US knew about #Coronavirus in November and shared the intel with NATO and Israel.

There was no #WHO cover-up. Their funding should be immediately restored.https://t.co/IQdxZEtlWq

— Joel Rubin (@JoelMartinRubin) April 17, 2020

The information reportedly came from U.S. intelligence monitoring of internal Chinese communications that revealed the potential danger of the outbreak before it was publicly known.

The Times of Israel reported that U.S. intelligence agencies were aware of the disease as early as the second week of November and shared the information with President Donald Trump's White House, NATO, and Israel. The U.S. administration did not deem the report "of interest" while Israeli officials discussed the possibility of the threat but ultimately took no action. What NATO's response was to the report—if any—is thus far unknown.

Reporting on April 8 from ABC News revealed the existence of a November report by the National Center for Medical Intelligence (NCMI) on the potential of a pandemic from the Wuhan outbreak.

According to ABC News:

The report was the result of analysis of wire and computer intercepts, coupled with satellite images. It raised alarms because an out-of-control disease would pose a serious threat to U.S. forces in Asia—forces that depend on the NCMI's work. And it paints a picture of an American government that could have ramped up mitigation and containment efforts far earlier to prepare for a crisis poised to come home.

The Pentagon told ABC News on April 8 that no such report from the NCMI existed, but Thursday's news could appear to contradict that denial—though it is unclear if the two reports were the same or just contemporaneous.

“Gangster in the White House”: Noam Chomsky on COVID-19, WHO, China, Gaza and Global Capitalism

Protests against US stay-at-home orders gain support from rightwing figures

Protests against stay-at-home coronavirus rules have gained support from rightwing politicians and media groups in recent days, setting up a battle between scientists and public health leaders who say restrictions are necessary and some Republicans demanding the measures be lifted.

The Michigan Conservative Committee organized a rally, dubbed “Operation Gridlock”, outside Michigan’s state capitol on Wednesday, demanding that the governor, Gretchen Whitmer, lift restrictions designed to limit the spread of coronavirus. Thousands of people drove to Lansing, waving Donald Trump 2020 campaign signs chanting “lock her up”, and flouting social distancing restrictions.

Demonstrations against coronavirus measures are spreading across the US, with people holding rallies in North Carolina, Utah, Kentucky and Ohio in recent days. A protest is planned in Virginia on Thursday, while a Texas rally, pushed by a host on the rightwing conspiracy theory website Infowars, is set to target the state capitol in Austin on Saturday.

Despite health officials stressing the importance of stay-at-home measures, prominent figures on the right, including Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and rightwing website the Gateway Pundit have begun to champion the conservative effort. Laura Ingraham, host of the Ingraham Angle on Fox News, was among those to praise the Michigan protest. She told her 3 million Twitter followers it was “time to get your freedom back” as she posted a video of protesters en route to Lansing.

After Selling Stocks as Coronavirus Pandemic Reached US, GOP Senators Loeffler and Perdue Join Committee to Reopen Economy

Three weeks after government watchdogs demanded the resignation of U.S. Sens. Kelly Loeffler and Richard Burr following reports that both responded to briefings about the burgeoning coronavirus pandemic in late January by selling millions of dollars in stocks, critics slammed President Donald Trump's appointment of Loeffler to the White House's committee on reopening the economy.

Loeffler's fellow Republican senator from Georgia, David Perdue, was also named as a member of the committee weeks after reports revealed he bought stock in a personal protective equipment (PPE) manufacturer after learning about the public health crisis which would soon cause nationwide shortages of the equipment as healthcare workers treated coronavirus patients. Perdue sold stocks after briefings in January and early February, as well.

How Congress Gets Away With Insider Trading Even Though It's Against the Law

'The Public Deserves to Know': Lone Watchdog Demands Federal Reserve Release Names of Corporations Receiving Taxpayer Bailouts

The lone watchdog on a congressional committee formed to oversee the Trump administration's handling of a multi-trillion-dollar coronavirus bailout package demanded Wednesday that the Federal Reserve release to the public both the names of corporations receiving taxpayer bailout money and details on how the funds are being used.

"The public deserves to know which companies are receiving taxpayer-backed lending through the Fed and on what terms, and to be able to monitor what those companies do after receiving taxpayer support," Bharat Ramamurti, thus far the only person who has been appointed to the newly created Congressional Oversight Commission, wrote in a letter to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.

The commission is supposed to have five members chosen by congressional leaders of both parties, but the other slots have not yet been filled even as taxpayer money flies out the door.

Under the CARES Act—a nearly 900-page stimulus package President Donald Trump signed into law last month—the Fed was given sweeping control over hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer money, which the central bank can leverage into trillions of dollars in funds to prop up large corporations.

Ramamurti, a former economic adviser to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), expressed concern that the Fed has not committed to releasing key details about transactions involving such an enormous pot of taxpayer money.

Washington Post journalist uncovers millionaires benefit HIDDEN in bailout bill

Attorney General Barr Refuses to Release 9/11 Documents to Families of the Victims

Months after President Donald Trump promised to open FBI files to help families of the 9/11 victims in a civil lawsuit against the Saudi government, the Justice Department has doubled down on its claim that the information is a state secret.

In a series of filings just before a midnight court deadline on Monday, the attorney general, William Barr; the acting director of national intelligence, Richard Grenell; and other senior officials insisted to a federal judge in the civil case that further disclosures about Saudi connections to the 9/11 plot would imperil national security.

But the administration insisted in court filings that even its justification for that secrecy needed to remain secret. Four statements to the court by FBI and Justice Department officials were filed under seal so they could not be seen by the public. An additional five, including one from the CIA, were shared only with the judge and cannot be read even by the plaintiffs’ lawyers.

Barr insisted to the court that public discussion of the issue “would reveal information that could cause the very harms my assertion of the state secrets privilege is intended to prevent.”

What the various security agencies are trying to hide remains a mystery.

Roger Stone, longtime Trump adviser, denied bid for new trial

A federal judge on Thursday denied a bid for a new trial by Donald Trump’s longtime friend and adviser Roger Stone after the veteran Republican operative accused the jury forewoman of being tainted by anti-Trump political bias.

Amy Berman Jackson, a US district court judge, rejected Stone’s claim that the forewoman was biased against Trump and therefore could not be impartial in deciding Stone’s guilt or innocence during the trial.

“There is zero evidence of ‘explicit bias’ against Stone, and defendant’s attempts to gain a new trial based on implied or inferred bias fail,” Berman Jackson said in an 81-page decision.

Stone, a longtime confidant and former aide to Trump, was convicted in November of seven felonies in an attempt to interfere with a congressional inquiry. He was sentenced to 40 months in prison.

Rights of Children at Risk at 'An Unprecedented Speed and Scale' as School Closures Drive Turn to Online Learning

With the coronavirus pandemic shuttering schools across the globe, educational institutions have leaned on online resources to help students learn remotely—a shift that has already prompted concern over increased screen time, possible safety risks, and worsening of the so-called "digital divide."

Another concern—that children's personal data may be taken for commercial exploitation—is the subject of an open letter released Thursday by dozens of human rights and consumer groups.

"It's inspiring how families and educators have stepped up to keep kids learning in this most difficult time. But we cannot trample children's other critical rights in the rush to provide remote learning," said Josh Golin, executive director of the U.S.-based Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCCFC).

CCFC is one of the 33 global groups behind the new letter (pdf), which warns that the public health crisis-induced "rushed adoption of technology" in countries across the globe "risks undermining learners' and children's rights at an unprecedented speed and scale."

"This unplanned crisis," said Jen Persson, director of the U.K.-based group defenddigitalme, "is pushing schools in particular to free products, whose business models often rely on opaque ways of exploiting something else for profit: pupil or staff personal data, or advertising in-app products to children or parents."

10 California Nurses Refused to Work Without N95 Masks. They've Now Been Suspended.

Ten nurses at a Southern California hospital who refused to work unless they got N95 masks remain suspended with pay, even though the hospital is now providing the masks to workers.

After one of their colleagues tested positive for coronavirus, and hearing from doctors that they should have better protection, nurses at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, went to management and said they wouldn’t enter rooms with COVID-19 patients unless they were provided better personal protective equipment, according to the AP. ...

Providence St. John’s is now providing N95 masks to nurses treating those who have COVID-19 or are awaiting test results, according to a Tuesday statement to the AP. The 10 suspended nurses remain so, however, pending an investigation by human resources, according to AP.

Guidance from the CDC issued this month says that N95 masks are “preferable” personal protective equipment while facemasks are an “acceptable alternative.” After being told that a regular surgical mask would protect her, Providence Saint John’s nurse Angela Gatdula tested positive and fell ill; she’s now recovering. “The next nurse that gets this might not be lucky,” she told the AP. “They might require hospitalization. They might die.”

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Illinois Deals w/Covid After Primary Voting Debacle

'It’s a killer. We’re done': Covid-19 puts ballot initiatives in peril

March was supposed to be a big month for James Hayes. He and other organizers with Ohioans for Raising the Wage have been campaigning to gradually raise the state’s minimum wage – currently $8.70 an hour – to $13. The organizers planned to be stationed at the polls throughout the state during the primary election to get voters , already in a civic mindset, to sign petitions to help them get the measure on the ballot. They need to gather 442,958 signatures by 1 July to make that happen.

But the Covid-19 pandemic waylaid the campaign. Ohio essentially canceled in-person voting for its primary, now at the end of April. Organizers have stopped collecting signatures to comply with state orders to avoid public contact – a strategy that these campaigns traditionally heavily rely on. “Every day we lose … the amount of volunteer hours and the resources goes up as well. It’s really difficult,” Hayes said. “It’s heart-wrenching.” Hayes and his group filed a lawsuit in state court seeking to extend the deadline for collecting signatures. ...

Though state lawmakers are scrambling to find alternatives for people to vote in upcoming elections, there has been no parallel effort to make it easier for organizers to get measures on the ballot for November.

After Coronavirus Cancellation, Is Ohio Doing Enough to Make Its Mail-In Election Fair?

With the coronavirus pandemic upending the Democratic primary season, states are scrambling to figure out how to safely hold their elections. In Ohio, state lawmakers approved a plan to hold an extended, vote-by-mail primary election through April 28, while shutting down almost all in-person voting. Now, out of necessity, Ohio has joined the handful of states that already primarily conduct elections by mail. But voting rights groups warn that the confusing, multistep process will disenfranchise voters on a large scale.

On the eve of Ohio’s scheduled March 17 primary election, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine announced that the state’s public health director would order that polls be closed to prevent the spread of the virus, defying a court ruling. DeWine’s decision to halt in-person voting followed days of pressure for the four states scheduled to vote to postpone their primaries. Instead, Ohio gave voters just over a month to apply for a ballot and mail it in.

A coalition of voting rights organizations, including the League of Women Voters of Ohio, has now sued the state over its “cumbersome vote-by-mail process,” arguing it poses “unlawful barriers” that will hit black and brown voters the hardest. In addition to concerns about the process itself, advocates are demanding the state extend the voter registration deadline. Only Ohioans who registered to vote by the February 18 deadline are eligible to vote in the primary election; voting rights groups say that, under the National Voter Registration Act and Ohio Constitution, that deadline should have been extended. Under this new process, thousands, if not millions, of Ohioans will give up or not be able to cast a vote at all, said Jen Miller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio.

“You can’t just blink your eyes and have an all vote-by-mail election, it doesn’t work that way,” Miller said. “Primarily vote-by-mail states have eight to 10 weeks of the process, not four. Voters get ballots, there’s no application process. There are usually drop boxes and vote centers throughout counties. So the bottom line is: This country, this state, is not equipped to run elections during pandemics and emergencies — we need to upgrade and update our election systems today.”

Saagar Enjeti: Biden Destroys His Own Electability Case In SHOCKING New Comments

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US to have major floods on daily basis unless sea-level rise is curbed

Flooding events that now occur in America once in a lifetime could become a daily occurrence along the vast majority of the US coastline if sea level rise is not curbed, according to a new study that warns the advancing tides will “radically redefine the coastline of the 21st century”.

The research finds major cities such as Honolulu, New Orleans and Miami will become increasingly vulnerable to elevated high tides and stronger storms fueled by the global heating caused by human activity. Beach and cliff erosion will exacerbate this situation.

The accelerating pace of sea level rise means that by the end of the century floods currently considered once in a lifetime, or once every 50 years or so, will become a daily high tide occurrence for more than 90% of the coastal locations assessed by researchers from the US government, the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Hawaii.

Within 30 years from now, these now-rare flooding events will become annual occurrences for more than 70% of the locations along the US coast according to the research published in Scientific Reports. This scenario threatens huge, multibillion-dollar damages and, potentially, the viability of some coastal communities.

Major blow to Keystone XL pipeline as judge revokes key permit

The controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline has been dealt a major setback, after a judge revoked a key permit issued by the US army corps of engineers without properly assessing the impact on endangered species. In a legal challenge brought by a coalition of environmental groups, a federal judge in Montana ordered the army corps to suspend all filling and dredging activities until it conducts formal consultations compliant with the Endangered Species Act.

The ruling revokes the water-crossing permit needed to complete construction of the pipeline, and is expected to cause major delays to the divisive project. ...

The company faces a separate legal challenge on Thursday 16 April, when tribal communities will be back in court requesting an injunction to stop construction in light of the coronavirus pandemic. The court will decide whether construction, which the plaintiffs argue will bring thousands of out-of-state workers to remote areas already ill-equipped to deal with the public health crisis, should be suspended.

Trump administration eyes paying oil companies to keep crude in the ground

The Trump administration is contemplating paying oil companies to leave their product in the ground, a measure that could help boost the struggling industry while the market has been crushed by an oversupply of crude.

According to reporting from multiple outlets, the Department of Energy (DOE) is drafting a plan that would pay companies to leave as much as 365 million barrels untapped by considering it part of the nation’s emergency stockpile. ...

Such a plan would be unprecedented and likely to face resistance from Congress, where Democrats were able to thwart a $3 billion request to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) outright.

But President Trump has said the government should stock up on oil while prices are at historic lows, and the DOE plan appears to already have some support from Republicans.

Emerging Climate-Fueled Megadrought in Western US Rivals Any Over Past 1,200 Years

The western United States is likely being gripped by an "emerging" megadrought partly fueled by the climate crisis, says a study published Friday.

Researchers claim the region's 19-year drought, from 2000–2018, already rivals that of any over the past 1,200 years.

"We're no longer looking at projections, but at where we are now," said lead author Park Williams, a bioclimatologist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, in a statement. "We now have enough observations of current drought and tree-ring records of past drought to say that we're on the same trajectory as the worst prehistoric droughts."

For the study, published in the journal Science, Williams and the other researchers looked at nine U.S. states, stretching from Oregon and Montana at the northern and southward through California and New Mexico. The researchers also included a portion of northern Mexico in the study.

Climate-Driven Megadrought Is Emerging in Western U.S., Says Study
Warming May Be Triggering Era Worse Than Any in Recorded Historyhttps://t.co/xzZjHcKt8r pic.twitter.com/qKaOcHlDcC

— Earth Institute (@earthinstitute) April 16, 2020

Using tree ring data to infer yearly soil moisture and plot out the pre-modern data, the researchers documented four megadroughts—multi-decade droughts—beginning in 800 AD.

The southwest's current drought was worse compared to the ones that took place in the late 800s, mid-1100s, and the 1200s. The most severe megadrought on recorrd began in 1575, though researchers said the difference between that Medieval one and the current was slight.

And while natural variability played a role in the current drought, the scientists estimate about half the blame—47%—lies with the Earth's heating, as warmer air is able to suck up more ground moisture.

According to coauthor Benjamin Cook of Lamont and the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, "It doesn't matter if this is exactly the worst drought ever" but that "it has been made much worse than it would have been because of climate change."

Natural variability that can drive drought will likely continue, as will global warming, threatening further upheaval for a region already facing groundwater depletion.

"Because the background is getting warmer, the dice are increasingly loaded toward longer and more severe droughts," added Williams.

"We may get lucky, and natural variability will bring more precipitation for a while," he said. "But going forward, we'll need more and more good luck to break out of drought, and less and less bad luck to go back into drought."

As Flint Water Crisis Enters Sixth Year, 'Astounding' Report Exposes Lies of Ex-Gov. Rick Snyder and Other Officials

VICE on Thursday published an "astounding" and "important" exclusive report on how Rick Snyder, a Republican who served as Michigan's governor from 2011 to 2019, "knew about Flint's toxic water—and lied about it."

The report, based on a year-and-a-half investigation, comes almost six years after an emergency manager appointed by Snyder switched Flint's water supply from Detroit's system to the Flint River. Since that move on April 25, 2014, city residents have endured health consequences resulting from a deadly Legionella pneumophila bacterial outbreak and exposure to heavy metals and cancer-causing contaminants.

6 years after Flint began using a toxic water source that sickened its residents, @VICE uncovered payoffs, whistleblower silencing, a shady financial deal, a coverup, & the former gov. who presided over it all. By @JordanChariton & me#FlintWaterCrisishttps://t.co/Gt2fjv280s

— Jenn Dize (@JennElizabethJ) April 16, 2020

As Jordan Chariton and Jenn Dize reported Thursday:

Hundreds of confidential pages of documents obtained by VICE, along with emails and interviews, reveal a coordinated, five-year cover-up overseen by Snyder and his top officials to prevent news of Flint's deadly water from going public—while there was still time to save lives—and then limit the damage after the crisis made global headlines.

All told, the waterborne bacterial disease may have killed at least 115 people in 2014 and 2015, and potentially more whose pneumonia wasn't officially considered Legionnaires' disease, the illness caused by Legionella. In addition to the outbreak, Flint's water supply was contaminated with lead and other heavy metals, harmful bacteria, carcinogens, and other toxic components. This wreaked havoc on Flint residents, leaving them with a laundry list of illnesses, including kidney and liver problems, severe bone and muscle pain, gastrointestinal problems, loss of teeth, autoimmune diseases, neurological deficiencies, miscarriages, Parkinson's disease, severe fatigue, seizures, and volatile mood disorders.

Beyond this, the long-term effects of heavy-metal poisoning takes years to develop, meaning many ill residents' conditions are worsening as the years go on. Many have said they still rely on bottled water to avoid using the water that comes through their pipes and into their homes, schools, and businesses.

The report detailed actions of local and state officials both leading up to and during the public health crisis, which continues today. It is based on interviews and documents from a criminal investigation of Snyder's administration that was led by special prosecutor Todd Flood from 2016 until last year, when newly elected state Attorney General Dana Nessel fired Flood and others.

The prosecution team led by Flood charged 15 Flint and Michigan officials with various crimes; seven of those cases were resolved with plea agreements. In January 2019, Nessel appointed Fadwa Hammoud as the state's solicitor general and assigned her to take over the Flint criminal cases.

In June, the state's prosecution team dismissed all pending criminal charges against the eight remaining defendants and launched a new probe based on concerns about the initial one. That decision, as Common Dreams reported, "elicited fresh concerns and demands for justice."

VICE noted that with Flint about to enter its sixth year of the water crisis, "the clock for justice is also ticking." Unless the Republican-controlled state legislature intervenes, the statute of limitations for filing new felony misconduct-in-office charges will run out next week.

In August, a pair of state legislators from Flint proposed legislation to extend the statute of limitations from six years to 10. Karen Weaver, then-mayor of Flint, expressed support for the proposal, declaring at the time that "there is no time limit that can be put on the amount of suffering that we have faced, nor the amount of pain as a result of the loss of life."

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Also of Interest

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

No matter how you crunch the numbers, this pandemic is only just getting started

As Washington DC Faces Coronavirus Spike, Secret Military Task Force Prepares to Secure the Capital

Trump’s Obsession With Reopening the Economy Ignores Public Health Experts

Snowden asks to remain in Russia for three more years

Corbyn and Sanders may have gone, but they have radically altered our politics

‘This Many Strikes Says That Something Fundamentally Is Changing in the Country’

Here Are the Contracts Showing How $4.5 Trillion in Stimulus Was Outsourced to Wall Street

Netflix now worth more than ExxonMobil as value reaches $187bn

Even Republican Voters Support $2,000 a Month Payments During Coronavirus Crisis

The Transition To Capitalism

Sanders Supporters Pledge to “#DemExit” and “#GreenEnter” to Make a Home in a Party That Shares Their Core Values

The End of Sanders, and Maybe the Beginning of a Mass Independent Left

Rising: Is Kamala Harris the perfect VP pick for Joe Biden?

Krystal and Saagar: Dem hero Cuomo hires MCKINSEY to re-open New York economy

Krystal and Saagar: Biden literally INCOMPREHENSIBLE live on CNN

Krystal and Saagar: STUNNING that Bernie gets #MeToo question before Biden

Krystal and Saagar: Billionaire Mark Cuban calls out bank profiteering off small business loans

'Spectacular' artefacts found as Norway ice-patch melts

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A Little Night Music

Ronnie Earl - T-Bone Boogie

Ronnie Earl - Backstroke

Roomful Of Blues - Reelin and Rockin

Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters - Ice Cream Man

Ronnie Earl and Irma Thomas - I'll Take Care of You

Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters - Robert Nighthawk Stomp

David Maxwell's Maximum Blues w/sp guest Ronnie Earl - After Hours

Jimmie Vaughan and Ronnie Earl - Motorhead Baby

Etta James with Ronnie & Roomful - Tell Mama & I’d Rather Go Blind

Earl King & Roomful of Blues (with Ronnie Earl) Montreux 1987

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