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(To view a far more visually attractive, easily readable version of this report -- with essays dating back to 2009, and portfolios of relevant photographs -- all without the obvious, vexing, impossible-to-solve-in-less-than-two-hours formatting conflicts between Typepad and Blogger -- please go here.)
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GOOD MORNING. As always, scan by scrolling down -- it'll take only minutes at most -- read whatever is relevant1 to you and yours, share it if appropriate and skip the rest:
General news:
Why America's Anti-Science and Anti-Intellectual Attitudes Doom It to Coronavirus "Pearl Harbor"
Atrocious metaphor. If one cannot resist the locker-room cliche of comparing the profiteer-crippled U.S. anti-pandemic response to a battle, one should at least know something of military history. Given the skyrocketing probability we are doomed by deadly Neoliberal greed to be the most virus-devastated industrial nation on the planet, a somewhat less inaccurate choice might be Stalingrad, with us as the doomed Germans -- doubly appropriate given the ChristoNazi regime that now has absolute control over the executive and judiciary branches of the federal government and most of the states and will probably recapture the legislative branch (Congress) by weaponizing the virus to radically suppress the vote, precisely as the Republicans are doing now in (neo-Confederate) Wisconsin, for which see "Vicious vectors," below. Plus there's also the ever-more-obvious (bipartisan) scheme for weaponizing the virus to "cleanse" the nation of its "surplus" Working Families.
Atrocious metaphor. If one cannot resist the locker-room cliche of comparing the profiteer-crippled U.S. anti-pandemic response to a battle, one should at least know something of military history. Given the skyrocketing probability we are doomed by deadly Neoliberal greed to be the most virus-devastated industrial nation on the planet, a somewhat less inaccurate choice might be Stalingrad, with us as the doomed Germans -- doubly appropriate given the ChristoNazi regime that now has absolute control over the executive and judiciary branches of the federal government and most of the states and will probably recapture the legislative branch (Congress) by weaponizing the virus to radically suppress the vote, precisely as the Republicans are doing now in (neo-Confederate) Wisconsin, for which see "Vicious vectors," below. Plus there's also the ever-more-obvious (bipartisan) scheme for weaponizing the virus to "cleanse" the nation of its "surplus" Working Families.
'Trump Is Killing His Own Supporters' - Even White House Insiders Know It
Another dimension of the deadly dystopian dementia of der Trumpenführer and his cronies.
Another dimension of the deadly dystopian dementia of der Trumpenführer and his cronies.
Jared Kushner: Point Man for Private Profiteering on the Coronavirus Response
Simmering scandal (I).
Simmering scandal (I).
Major Producer of Hydroxychloroquine Once Paid Michael Cohen Hefty Sum for Access to Trump
Simmering scandal (II).
Simmering scandal (II).
AP FACT CHECK: Trump pitches drug unapproved for coronavirus
Simmering scandal (III).
Simmering scandal (III).
Tomgram: Nomi Prins, An All-American Urge to Offer Corporate WelfareMeanwhile the predatory plutocrats are smirking with greedy anticipation.
Indian Country's COVID-19 syllabusLife -- and death -- on the Rez.
‘Racist, colonial mentality’: WHO chief slams French suggestion to use Africa as testing ground for Covid-19 vaccineDoes
the same Vichy mentality that sent the Foreign Legion to re-conquer
Vietnam now see in Covid-19 an opportunity to resurrect its African
empire?
The Democratic Party Must Harness the Legitimate Rage of Americans. Otherwise, the Right Will Use It With Horrifying ResultsAnd
let us not forget the epic betrayal implicit in "change we can believe
in," which tells us the Democrats will co-opt that rage to get elected
then -- resuming their Fifth Column function and serving the Republicans
-- betray every Working Family in the nation, with probably yet more
horrifying results. What Chris Hedges said of Obama via this page
yesterday -- that he is but a "mascot" of Wall Street -- in truth
applies to to the entire party.
Reliable anthologies of pandemic reports (scroll for whatever is relevant):
Virus Outbreak
Updated constantly by the Associated Press.
Updated constantly by the Associated Press.
Black Agenda Report
Updated regularly. In my opinion, the best, most informative, most relevant political website on the U.S. Internet.
Updated regularly. In my opinion, the best, most informative, most relevant political website on the U.S. Internet.
RT - Breaking news, shows, podcasts
Democratic (sic) Party Big Lies and Republican censorship not withstanding, this site provides what is often the most truthful reporting available to us in the United States. Updated often.
Democratic (sic) Party Big Lies and Republican censorship not withstanding, this site provides what is often the most truthful reporting available to us in the United States. Updated often.
TASS Russian News Agency
Just as Propagandamaster Bezos' WaPo gives us the Predatory Plutocrats' perspective, so does this site -- formerly Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (Телегра́фное аге́нтство Сове́тского Сою́за, Telegrafnoye agentstvo Sovetskogo Soyuza) -- give us, in English, the often-radically different Russian government's perspective. (It's history, dating from 1904, makes interesting reading for mediaphyles.) Updated often.
Just as Propagandamaster Bezos' WaPo gives us the Predatory Plutocrats' perspective, so does this site -- formerly Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (Телегра́фное аге́нтство Сове́тского Сою́за, Telegrafnoye agentstvo Sovetskogo Soyuza) -- give us, in English, the often-radically different Russian government's perspective. (It's history, dating from 1904, makes interesting reading for mediaphyles.) Updated often.
Coronavirus live updates - The Washington Post
Probably not "fake news" and updated often -- but listed last because Propagandamaster Bezos's corporate crown jewel is nevertheless best known for its censorship2 and warmongering lies.
Probably not "fake news" and updated often -- but listed last because Propagandamaster Bezos's corporate crown jewel is nevertheless best known for its censorship2 and warmongering lies.
Specific indications of the pandemic's true magnitude and consequences:
Army pauses sending new recruits to basic training amid pandemicThis
is a potentially revealing indication I do not know how to read. One
possibility is it presages substantial reduction (and perhaps even
reversal) of the "full spectrum dominance" approach to global conquest.
Another possibility is it could evidence a potentially tragic lack of
adequate on-post medical facilities and supplies. A third possibility is
it is a ruse, either to rebut rumors of impending martial law or to
entice some allegedly hostile nation into an act of aggression. And of
course there are many other possibilities. As I indicated at the
beginning, I simply don't know -- but I will say I have never heard of
any comparable suspension of the military induction process. Hence it
is something to watch -- closely.
Other relevant pandemic-related indications:
The Queen's Coronavirus broadcast: 'We will meet again'No matter what one might think of Elizabeth II, here she's demonstrating leadership of a kind we witness only rarely.
Sanders: Next relief bill must pay everyone $2,000 per monthThough
such humanitarian legislation will never be approved by the
ChristoNazis, the unprecedented magnitude of Sen. Sanders' proposal
gives us a peek at the pandemic's apocalyptic potential.
NATO’s nemeses Russia & China help its member-states amid Covid-19 pandemic FAR MORE than the alliance itselfObviously
the Sino-Russian Ruling Class -- in stark contrast to morally imbecilic
nabobs of Neoliberalism -- has retained at least some real humanity.
Toilet paper shipment goes up in flames in tractor-trailer accident
Hence the obvious comment of a shortage victim: "this really burns my ass."
Censorship and disinformation (includes countermeasures):Hence the obvious comment of a shortage victim: "this really burns my ass."
Vindictive vectors:
Pandemic politics: Wisconsin primary moving forwardUnusually
uninformative AP head: should read "Republican Court Overrules
Governor, Forces Would-Be Voters to Risk Death by Virus." But
I am somewhat sympathetic to the head-writer's dilemma because that's
only half the story. The other half is how the Republican rulers of the
most viciously Christo-Nazi domain outside the old Confederacy have
weaponized covid-19 for voter suppression. (Apropos which, see also
"Trump Admits Easy Voting Would Defeat Republicans," below.)
Coronavirus: Landlord changes locks on California church after pastor intends to continue services
Christianity as a death cult (I)
Christianity as a death cult (I)
By One Conservative Estimate, 32,000 U.S. Churches Are Still Open For Business
Christianity as a death cult (II)
Christianity as a death cult (II)
Texas Woman Who Claimed COVID-19 Was ‘Media Driven’ Hoax Dies From VirusChristianity as a death cult (III)
Especially for Washingtonians:
Mayor on Tacoma's First COVID-19 Death
Once again Victoria Woodards responds with notable empathy and concern. How many other USian major-seaport mayors would react as she did to such a casualty? Though I will always be critical of Ms. Woodard's concessions to Neoliberalism, I nevertheless believe we here in this "gritty city" sometimes (aptly) described as "Brooklyn Northwest" are most lucky to have such a responsive person in office at this pivotal moment in our species' 250,000-year history.
Also relevant:Once again Victoria Woodards responds with notable empathy and concern. How many other USian major-seaport mayors would react as she did to such a casualty? Though I will always be critical of Ms. Woodard's concessions to Neoliberalism, I nevertheless believe we here in this "gritty city" sometimes (aptly) described as "Brooklyn Northwest" are most lucky to have such a responsive person in office at this pivotal moment in our species' 250,000-year history.
Lives Lost: A mismatched pair's love story ends with virus
This sort of human-interest reporting proves AP still hires real journalists -- that is, those of us for whom it is a way of life rather than just another job.
This sort of human-interest reporting proves AP still hires real journalists -- that is, those of us for whom it is a way of life rather than just another job.
‘Collateral Murder’ and the My Lai MassacreRelevant
because its damning sociological disclosures reveal one of the primary
reasons the U.S. government's reaction to the coronavirus pandemic is
the most murderously greedy such response in the entire industrial
world. Comparing the nation's reaction to the evidence of two war crimes
reveals the extent to which a half-century of incessant Ayn Rand
indoctrination has stripped the United States of any pretense of
humanitarianism and reduced it to a Nazified white-racist realm in which
moral imbecility is now the national ethos. But the most terrible
implication of all is the historical fact such a vindictively
self-obsessed nation can never achieve the individual bravery -- much
less the empathetic solidarity -- essential to overthrow or even reform
the Ted-Bundy-minded sociopaths whose anti-Working-Family tyrannies
become more intolerable with every passing day.
Ten years since WikiLeaks published Collateral Murder
Additional details and analysis germane both to the above report and to why the United States is now -- if I may be forgiven my use of the Trumpanoid pejorative -- the topmost turdpile amongst the planet's Covid-19 "shithole countries."
Additional details and analysis germane both to the above report and to why the United States is now -- if I may be forgiven my use of the Trumpanoid pejorative -- the topmost turdpile amongst the planet's Covid-19 "shithole countries."
A Family’s Fetid Week With CoronavirusHeld
over because it is the most outspoken, most emotionally honest, most
implicitly life-supportive and by far the best reporting I have read in many
years. Indeed, Reyhan Harmanci is a writer whose talent I'd have
recognized with a full-time general-assignment staff-job (way, way) back
when "editor" was the key part of my job-title. (For more of her work,
click on her "Family's Fetid Week" byline.)
Important stuff to bear in mind:(Archived
material that helps us understand what the PluPreds -- plutocratic
predators -- are doing to us now and what they might do to us in the
future.)
Trump Admits Easy Voting Would Defeat Republicans
How gerrymandering and methodical voter-suppression have reduced our elections to meaningless charades.
How gerrymandering and methodical voter-suppression have reduced our elections to meaningless charades.
Goldman Sachs warns that curing patients may not be 'sustainable'
Outright acknowledgment from the deadliest Neoliberal predators that curing disease with a single treatment is bad for profits. A report from 2018 that explains what's being done to us today, hence given knife-edged relevance by the pandemic
Outright acknowledgment from the deadliest Neoliberal predators that curing disease with a single treatment is bad for profits. A report from 2018 that explains what's being done to us today, hence given knife-edged relevance by the pandemic
Average U.S. Citizens Have “Little Or No” Influence On Government Policy
Another "old" report given new relevance by what's being done to us today.
Another "old" report given new relevance by what's being done to us today.
The Truth About the United States' "Continuity of Government" Plans & The Coronavirus Perfect StormScroll
down to the 12th graf to learn how at least eight million U.S. citizens
are on the PPs' enemies lists and will be disappeared.
Military, Trump administration ready plans for domestic crackdown as virus spreads across US
From the report: "'a senior military planner working on coronavirus but not authorized to speak on sensitive planning matters [...] says that deployment of federal troops in support roles is being prepared,' including to conduct traffic stops, home searches and seizures and arrests." Scroll to Footnote3 to learn what atrocities could thus be inflicted on us.
From the report: "'a senior military planner working on coronavirus but not authorized to speak on sensitive planning matters [...] says that deployment of federal troops in support roles is being prepared,' including to conduct traffic stops, home searches and seizures and arrests." Scroll to Footnote3 to learn what atrocities could thus be inflicted on us.
Avenger Planet: Is the Covid-19 Pandemic Mother Nature's Response to Human Transgression?
Excellent question -- though as a (solitary-practice) Gaian Pagan, I would cite the scientific hypothesis that bears the Earth Goddess' name and answer "almost certainly yes." (One of the innumerable reasons the ChristoNazis so despise us is the majority of our beliefs are based on science -- the ultimate terminator of all patriarchal religion.)
Useful references:(No snake-oil sales or medicine-show huckstering allowed.)Excellent question -- though as a (solitary-practice) Gaian Pagan, I would cite the scientific hypothesis that bears the Earth Goddess' name and answer "almost certainly yes." (One of the innumerable reasons the ChristoNazis so despise us is the majority of our beliefs are based on science -- the ultimate terminator of all patriarchal religion.)
CARES Act Pandemic Unemployment Assistance for FreelancersNew:
specifically for writers and editors. (Disclosure: I am a longtime
National Writers Union member and co-chaired one of their local writers'
workshops c. 2009-2011.)
Handling mail amid coronavirus: Low risk but wash your handsMy
practice is to assume everything from outside is potentially
contaminated, hence I wash my hands thoroughly after handling any
incoming packages and sanitize any surface upon which they might have
rested or been unwrapped.
_________________1I
select these stories on the basis of my news judgment as it evolved
during my 64 years as a writer, photographer and editor, three decades
of which were in the working press. (Despite an on-and-off involvement
with the alternative press that began in 1963, all but about three of
those first 30 earning-years were primarily in the Mainstream Media
Propaganda Machine, at least half in decide-what's-news jobs ranging
from sports editor and associate editor to city editor, news-and-picture
editor and editor-in-chief. (Though as my colleagues moved stealthily
Rightward, so did I move ever-more-openly Leftward, until eventually I
was Left...outside.) Beyond that -- and in keeping with today's
(unequivocally apocalyptic) context -- it is a matter of relevance plus
probability of censorship. I ask myself three questions: firstly, is a
given story useful – a term in this context I use as synonymous with
relevant. If the answer is yes, I than ask, secondly, how likely is it
to be suppressed by the MMPM, the PPs’ first ever privately owned,
for-maximum-profit copy of Josef Goebbels’ infamous Reich Ministry of
Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. And here my rule is one of inverse
returns: the less
likely I think I am to see the story disseminated via the National Daily
Wipe and Audiovisual Psychodemonic Zombification Monopoly, (NDWAAZPM,
with apology to Henry Miller for the Psychodemonics), the more likely I
am to include it in these summaries. Reports that pass the first two
tests are each then subjected to the third and final test: do they
include indications from which we might evolve estimates of our
situations accurate enough to facilitate effective response? If the
answer here is also affirmative, the report in question will always be
included in the daily update. Meanwhile the first two criteria generate a
lengthy list of possibles I winnow down to probables and thence to
musts, a process that takes approximately seven or eight hours each day.
2As to what prompts my sudden skepticism of virus coverage by The Washington Post, note how quickly Bezos or one of his zero-tolerance subordinates imposed paywall censorship on this pivotally important 20 March story (scroll down to "U.S. intelligence reports"), which for only a very few short minutes appeared as part of WaPo's
non-paywalled daily virus report. Pretending to be real journalists
rather than the Regime's scribes -- a mental downgrading inflicted as
much by the clerical drudgery necessitated by computers as by the chief
Josef-Goebbels-wannabee Bezos himself -- is a form of moral imbecility I
cannot abide.
3Be aware that "home searches and seizures"
could include not only confiscation of all real or potential weapons
but -- given the ChristoNazi Regime's anti-marijuana fanaticism --
confiscation of, and arrest for possession of, all the (still federally
illegal) medical marijuana upon which such a huge number of
opiate-denied chronic-pain victims are now forced to depend. Too --
given the Regime's even more fanatical hatred of women and female
sexuality -- such raids might also be used to confiscate all
birth-control devices and criminalize all unwed women who possess them,
thereby fulfilling still more of the PPs' ChristoNazis objectives. Thus
-- by such mass arrests -- could the Regime give its plutocratic owners
the ultimate "gift" of permanently enslaving millions of U.S. citizens
for brutally hard, typically deadly labor, thereby granting our Masters'
wish of exterminating "surplus workers" while following the German
Nazis' model of amassing unlimited profits from mass murder.
(As always, headlines are reproduced in their original up-style and down-style formats.)
*****
May
we all remain healthy and unshackled by despair amidst the humanitarian
challenges and Neoliberal outrages of this sickest and most frustrating
of all human times.
LB/7 April 2020 02:40 PDT
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