Live Stream: The Science of Happiness during COVID-19
The Commonwealth Club | indybay.org | 2020-03-30
Online via live stream…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/03/28/18831892.php

Minister in one of Germany's wealthiest states commits suicide 'over coronavirus worries'
rt.com | 2020-03-30
The finance minister in the German state of Hesse, Thomas Schaefer, has taken his own life. His colleagues said he was pushed over the edge by an inability to cope with the harsh economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. | Schaefer's body was discovered near the speed railway track line in the town of Hochheim am Main on Saturday. Prosecutors said that the cause of his death was most likely suicide. | "We are in shock; we are in disbelief and above all we are immensely sad," Volker Bouffier, head of the Hesse regional government, said of the passing of his close associate and fellow member of Angela Merkel'…
rt.com/news/484437-germany-hesse-minister-suicide-coronavirus/

U.S. Imperialism Pulls Desperate Move in Venezuela
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-03-29
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC). | For years, the criminal government of the United States has attempted to remove the democratically elected president of Venezuela and discredit the peoples' movement in that country that has been so successful in lifting millions of Venezuelans out of extreme poverty. Under the corrupt Trump administration alone, the United States has conducted multiple illegal attacks against President Nicolas Maduro and the people of Venezuela, including: failed assassination attempts by drone, poorly orchestrated mi…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/3/29/us-imperialism-pulls-desperate-move-venezuela

Education Cannot Solve Poverty and Inequality
Shawgi Tell | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-03-28
One of the long-standing stubborn myths about education in American culture is that education is "the great equalizer" and that education is the way to overcome poverty and inequality at the individual and societal levels. The facts show, however, that poverty and inequality are generally increasing every year despite the fact that there are more …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/03/education-cannot-solve-poverty-and-inequality/

Our Economy Is a Sick Beast: The Corporate Debt Crisis Explained
Christian Parenti, Dante Dallavalle | commondreams.org | 2020-03-28
Traders work during the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on March 19, 2020, at Wall Street in New York City. Wall Street stocks fell again early Thursday as central banks unveiled new stimulus measures and U.S. jobless claims showed an initial hit from the slowdown generated by the coronavirus outbreak. (Photo: Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/unemployment-coronavirus-spike-biggest-week.jpg …
commondreams.org/views/2020/03/28/our-economy-sick-beast-corporate-debt-crisis-explained?cd-origin=rss

U.S. Is #1 in Pandemic: Rep. Omar Blasts Trump for "Wrong Kind of American Exceptionalism"
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-27
As much of the United States is under lockdown, the House votes today on a $2 trillion emergency relief package to address the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. It will generate payments to most Americans and includes protections for workers, but it is also a massive bailout for a number of industries and corporations, and the vote comes as a record 3.28 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits. We speak with Congressmember Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, the first Somali American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and one of the first Muslim women in Congress, about the bill, Trump's response t…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/27/rep_ilhan_omar_coronavirus_relief_bill

New claims for unemployment insurance soar to record high
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-03-27
San José, CA – On Thursday, March 26, the Labor Department reported the new claims for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits rocketed to 3.3 million for the week ending March 21. This was almost five times the previous record of almost 700,000 new claims in October of 1982, when the recession drove the unemployment rate to 10.8%. The number of new claims for UI was 15 times higher than the report just two weeks earlier. | This number certainly understated the number of lost jobs. Many states don't allow part-time and gig workers, independent contractors, and the self-employed to file for unemployment benefits. Man…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/3/26/new-claims-unemployment-insurance-soar-record-high

'This is low, even for you': Hillary Clinton uses record coronavirus deaths to bash Trump, gets virtual punches herself
rt.com | 2020-03-27
As the US recorded more cases of Covid-19 than any other country in the world, Hillary Clinton used the opportunity to crack jokes about President Trump. The failed presidential candidate was savaged online for her insensitivity. | As of Friday, the United States has recorded more than 94,000 cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus, passing out China and Italy. More than 1,400 Americans have died, hospitals are approaching capacity, and a record 3.3 million workers have filed for unemployment. | As the US passed this grim milestone, former secretary of state and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton took the o…
rt.com/usa/484325-hillary-clinton-coronavirus-joke/

Veteran Chicano leader Carlos Montes blasts Trump response to crisis
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-03-27
Los Angeles, CA – Long time Chicano leader Carlos Montes blasted the Trump administration's mishandling of the pandemic, March 25, stating, "President Trump's irrational and disjointed response to this COVID-19 pandemic is causing major harm to working people." | Montes continued, "Especially hard-hit are non-unionized workers in the lower sectors of the economy that who have little to no benefits. They are primarily Black and brown workers who lack health insurance, sick leave, vacations and access to unemployment benefits. This pandemic with the economic crash is causing extreme hardships to Black and brown com…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/3/26/veteran-chicano-leader-carlos-montes-blasts-trump-response-crisis

New Yorkers demand rent suspension
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-03-27
New York, NY – Due to the rising unemployment rate, New Yorkers are struggling financially. Some measures have been taken to help homeowners, as well as those going through eviction proceedings. An indefinite moratorium has been placed on evictions, and Governor Andrew Cuomo enacted a 90-day suspension on mortgages. The governor has even gone on to say that through these actions, he has "taken care of the rent issue." | However, this does not go far enough in helping the working class and poor hit hardest by the crisis. A recent survey by Property Nest found that 39% of New Yorkers won't be able to pay rent if pu…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/3/26/new-yorkers-demand-rent-suspension

Bernie Sanders Fights for Laid-off Worker Protections in $2 Trillion Stimulus with Corporate Bailout
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-26
The Senate unanimously approved a historic $2.2 trillion emergency relief package late Wednesday night to battle the unprecedented economic shock of the coronavirus pandemic. ‚Ä®‚Ä®The House will consider the bill Friday before it goes to President Trump's desk to be signed into law. ‚Ä®‚Ä®The bill would massively expand unemployment benefits, providing laid-off workers up to 100% of their salary and health insurance benefits for four months. Vermont senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders successfully fought to strengthen the bill's assistance…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/26/coronavirus_relief_bill_bernie_sanders

How Progressive Is the Stimulus?
Joelle Gamble | thenation.com | 2020-03-26
How Progressive Is the Stimulus?
thenation.com/article/economy/covid-economy-unemployment-stimulus/

Joseph Stiglitz: Trump's "Trickle-Down" Economic Plans Are Not Enough to Meet Coronavirus Challenge
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-19
The coronavirus relief package signed by President Trump Wednesday provides unemployment benefits and free coronavirus testing to millions of Americans suddenly out of a job, but guarantees paid sick leave to less than 20% of American workers. Earlier this month, Trump signed into law an $8 billion coronavirus response package and has laid out the first details of a third, $1 trillion economic package and invoked the Korean War-era Defense Production Act to allow the government to direct industrial production. For more on those bailouts and who benefits, we speak with Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-winning economis…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/19/us_economy_coronavirus_stimulus_joseph_stiglitz