Essential or Expendable? Farmworkers Condemn Lack of Protection and Economic Help During Pandemic
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-14
As the coronavirus sweeps through the United States, the country's 2.5 million farmworkers are continuing to go to work every day, often facing crowded and unsanitary conditions without personal protective equipment, for poverty wages. We speak with Gerardo Reyes Chávez, a farmworker leader with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, who describes the conditions farmworkers in Florida are facing and how they are calling on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to protect farmworkers during the COVID-19 crisis, and with Mónica Ramírez, president and founder of Justice for Migrant Women and co-founder of the National Farmwork…
www.democracynow.org/2020/4/14/us_farmworkers_coronavirus

Mega-Rich Hedge Funds Swoop Down to Grab COVID-19 Small Business Relief Funds
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-14
As small business owners struggle to obtain desperately needed money from a first-come-first-served federal coronavirus relief program, some wealthy hedge fund managers are attempting snag a share of the $350 billion taxpayer fund with the help of high-powered legal firms that know how to quickly navigate the confusing application process. | "Some he…
truthout.org/articles/mega-rich-hedge-funds-swoop-down-to-grab-covid-19-small-business-relief-funds/

Mega-Rich Hedge Funds Swoop Down to Grab COVID-19 Small Business Relief Funds
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-14
As small business owners struggle to obtain desperately needed money from a first-come-first-served federal coronavirus relief program, some wealthy hedge fund managers are attempting snag a share of the $350 billion taxpayer fund with the help of high-powered legal firms that know how to quickly navigate the confusing application process.
truthout.org/articles/trumps-hedge-fund-friends-want-coronavirus-relief-money-intended-for-small-businesses/

COVID-19 and Climate: Economic Impacts (livestream)
The Commonwealth Club | indybay.org | 2020-04-14
Online via livestream…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/14/18832362.php

Media glorifies New Zealand government's pro-business response to the pandemic
wsws.org | 2020-04-14
The Ardern government is being glorified to cover up the fact that its response to the pandemic protects the wealth of the super-rich, while attacking the living standards of the working class.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/14/nzco-a14.html

Canada's coronavirus wage-subsidy tailored to propping up business, not protecting workers' incomes
wsws.org | 2020-04-14
The trade unions and NDP have once again rallied to the support of the Trudeau government, whose response to the pandemic has focussed on bailing out the banks and big business so as to safeguard the wealth and investments of the capitalist elite.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/14/caws-a14.html

Time for UBI is NOW!!!
Philip Farruggio | nationofchange.org | 2020-04-14
WE working stiffs are, in reality, in this together… whether some out there like it or not!!
nationofchange.org/2020/04/13/time-for-ubi-is-now/

Latin America's GDP Expected to Fall in 2020 Due to COVID-19
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-13
The COVID-19 pandemic will cause a sharp drop in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in Latin American and Caribbean countries in 2020, according to the World Bank. | RELATED: | COVID-19 Will Increase Poverty & Unemployment in LatAm: ECLAC | A new report by the international organization estimates that the drop in GDP in the region will be 4.6%. | The decrease will occur due to the impact that the pandemic has had on the world economy. Millions of people have lost their job…
telesurenglish.net/news/latin-americas-gdp-expected-to-fall-in-2020-due-to-covid19-20200413-0008.html

Taxes Paid By Billionaires Decreased 79 Percent Since 1980, as Percentage of Their Wealth
Bob Lord, Chuck Collins | commondreams.org | 2020-04-13
Central to the program should be a tax that limits the further accumulation—that is, hoarding—of wealth by the billionaire class. (Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/tax_rich_0_1.jpg …
commondreams.org/views/2020/04/13/taxes-paid-billionaires-decreased-79-percent-1980-percentage-their-wealth?cd-origin=rss

Justice Dept launches investigation into recent deaths at nursing home for veterans
Andrew Emett | nationofchange.org | 2020-04-13
"We will aggressively investigate recent events at the Home and, as needed, require the Commonwealth to adopt reforms to ensure patient safety in the future."
nationofchange.org/2020/04/13/justice-dept-launches-investigation-into-recent-deaths-at-nursing-home-for-veterans/

Time for Universal Basic Income Is Now!
Philip A Farruggio | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-13
A man struggled in the desert heat with his mouth as parched as sandpaper. He was fading fast from lack of the basic essentials to exist, number one being water. Someone hands him a giant bottle of water and he …
globalresearch.ca/time-universal-basic-income-now/5709522

SPLC condemns attack on Alabama synagogue
splcenter.org | 2020-04-11
The Southern Poverty Law Center condemns the antisemitic attacks that took place during Passover at the Etz Chayim Synagogue in Huntsville, Alabama.
splcenter.org/news/2020/04/10/splc-condemns-attack-alabama-synagogue

"Exposing U.S. Racism in a Stark New Way": COVID-19 Kills Disproportionate Number of Black Americans
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-09
We speak with family physician and epidemiologist Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones about how the coronavirus is taking a devastating toll on black Americans, who are disproportionately dying from the virus across the country as a result of entrenched racial inequality. Black Americans are more likely to have chronic health problems and less likely to have insurance. They also make up significant numbers of frontline workers that are still going to work amid the pandemic. Jones is the former president of the American Public Health Association. Her recent piece for Newsweek magazine is headlined "Coronavirus Disease Discri…
www.democracynow.org/2020/4/9/camara_phyllis_jones_coronavirus_race_disparities

Why is Alliance Defending Freedom a Hate Group?
splcenter.org | 2020-04-08
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) first listed Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) as an anti-LGBTQ hate group in 2016.
splcenter.org/news/2020/04/10/why-alliance-defending-freedom-hate-group

Why is Alliance Defending Freedom a Hate Group?
splcenter.org | 2020-04-08
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) first listed Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) as an anti-LGBTQ hate group in 2016.
splcenter.org/news/2020/04/10/why-alliance-defending-freedom-hate-group

Deaths of Inequality: AOC on Black and Latinx Communities at Epicenter of Epicenter of the Pandemic
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-07
As COVID-19 deaths spike in African-American and immigrant communities, almost a third of New York City's infections are in Queens, one of the most diverse places in the world, and many in the hardest-hit neighborhoods are undocumented and working-class. We speak with Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents the neighborhoods at the epicenter of the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, about how the Trump administration's response to the pandemic is causing "deaths of incompetence," "deaths of science denial" and "deaths of inequality."
www.democracynow.org/2020/4/7/aoc_coronavirus_queens_bronx

No more unconditional corporate bailouts
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2020-04-06
Economy Abigail BoydIssue 1260 Australia undefinedApril 6, 2020Working on the frontline of the response to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in Europe in 2008, I had a front-row seat watching the wealthy and powerful being bailed out at the expense of the poorest and most vulner…
greenleft.org.au/content/no-more-unconditional-corporate-bailouts

The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery played key role in launching SPLC's legal battle against Ku Klux Klan
splcenter.org | 2020-03-30
The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, who died on Friday at 98 years old, was a longtime friend of the Southern Poverty Law Center and played a leading role in the SPLC's first lawsuit against the Ku Klux Klan in 1980.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/30/rev-dr-joseph-e-lowery-played-key-role-launching-splcs-legal-battle-against-ku-klux-klan