[Commentary] The imperative for universal healthcare to curtail the COVID-19 outbreak in the USA
Alison P. Galvani, Alyssa S. Parpia, Abhishek Pandey, Charlotte Zimmer, James G. Kahn, Meagan C. Fitzpatrick | thelancet.com | 2020-05-17
The COVID-19 outbreak in the United States is growing steeply and spreading widely. As of March 26, national incidence surpassed every other country, and as of April 28 has reported over a million cases. The COVID-19 crisis is exposing the systemic frailties in our healthcare system. More than 78 million people in America do not have access to adequate health insurance [1]. Given that health insurance in the US is typically provided by employers, millions more are at risk of losing their healthcare coverage as unemployment surges.
thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(20)30124-3/fulltext?rss=yes

Dispatch from the Frontlines: Gender Inequality and COVID-19 (CPCC)
Congressional Progressive Caucus Ctr & others | indybay.org | 2020-05-16
Online livestream & Zoom…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/05/13/18833009.php

Venezuela calls on UK government to 'abandon coup-mongering plans' after The Canary's investigation
John McEvoy | thecanary.co | 2020-05-16
Following an investigation by The Canary, the Venezuelan government has formally called on the UK to "abandon Washington's coup-mongering plans and any destabilizing initiative". | Venezuela Reconstruction Unit: | On 13 May, The Canary revealed the existence of a specialist unit within the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) dedicated to the 'reconstruction' of Venezuela. Files obtained un…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2020/05/16/venezuela-calls-on-uk-government-to-abandon-coup-mongering-plans-after-the-canarys-investigation/

U.S. jobless rate broke depression-era record–but most media missed it
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-05-16
The Bureau of Labor Statistics' eagerly awaited Friday morning Official Unemployment Rate report for April–what editors generally call the BLS's "headline" rate of unemployment–was definitely headline-worthy.
mronline.org/2020/05/16/u-s-jobless-rate-broke-depression-era-record-but-most-media-missed-it/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=u-s-jobless-rate-broke-depression-era-record-but-most-media-missed-it

Australian governments exploit mass unemployment to coerce workers into unsafe workplaces
wsws.org | 2020-05-16
Nearly half a million workers dropped out of the workforce in April, yet unemployment and underemployment still reached a record total of 19.9 percent.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/05/16/jobs-m16.html

Unemployment soars in New Zealand
wsws.org | 2020-05-16
Having handed tens of billions of dollars to big business, the Labour Party-led government is presiding over an increase in unemployment and social misery on a scale not seen in generations.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/05/16/nzjc-m16.html

It's time for a basic, guaranteed income for all
Stewart Lansley | thecanary.co | 2020-05-16
The pandemic crisis has laid bare the multiple flaws in the British system of social support. With the economy shrinking and unemployment soaring, the government has been forced to support falling incomes through wage subsidies and the easing of Universal Credit rules. While these are welcome, millions are missing out, opening up a new divide between those protected by government measures and those who are not. But there is another way to support everyone.
thecanary.co/feature/2020/05/16/its-time-for-a-basic-guaranteed-income-for-all/

Video: Coronavirus: Economic and Social Collapse: Mass Unemployment, Bankruptcy, Poverty and Despair
Prof Michel Chossudovsky | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-15
First published on April 16, 2020 | There is a serious health crisis which must be duly resolved. But there is another important dimension which has to be addressed. | Millions of people have lost their jobs, and their lifelong savings. In …
globalresearch.ca/video-corona-virus-economic-and-social-collapse-bankruptcy-debt-and-poverty/5709883

What Happens In the Wake of the COVID-19 Lockdown? Economic Destruction, Global Poverty, Bankruptcies, Mass Unemployment. Neoliberalism to the Rescue
Prof Michel Chossudovsky | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-15
In the wake of the lockdown: Bankruptcies and mass unemployment, the economic destabilization of entire countries. | Millions of people have lost their jobs, and their lifelong savings. They are unable to pay their home mortgages. | In developing countries, poverty and …
globalresearch.ca/what-happens-in-the-wake-of-the-covid-19-lockdown-economic-destruction-global-poverty-bankruptcies-mass-unemployment-neoliberalism-to-the-rescue/5707270

Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic, America's Billionaires Thrive and Prosper
Lawrence Wittner | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-05-15
Although most Americans currently face hard times, with unemployment surging to the levels of the Great Depression and enormous numbers of people sick or dying from the coronavirus pandemic, the nation's super-rich remain a notable exception. Financially, they are doing remarkably well. According to the Institute for Policy Studies, between March 18 and April 28, …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/05/amid-the-coronavirus-pandemic-americas-billionaires-thrive-and-prosper/

Study: Coronavirus Has a Been a Massive Boon for America's Billionaires
Alan MacLeod | thealtworld.com | 2020-05-15
A new study found that in the past eight weeks alone, the country's super wealthy have added a further $368.8 billion to their already enormous fortunes. | MPN– America's billionaires have seen their wealth increase by 12.5 percent during the COVID-19 lockdown period. The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, released a study Thursday showing that, in the eight weeks between March 18 and May 14, the country's super wealthy have added a further $368.8 billion to their already eno…
thealtworld.com/alan_macleod/study-coronavirus-has-a-been-a-massive-boon-for-americas-billionaires

Study: Coronavirus Has a Been a Massive Boon for America's Billionaires
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-05-15
A new study found that in the past eight weeks alone, the country's super wealthy have added a further $368.8 billion to their already enormous fortunes.
mintpressnews.com/study-coronavirus-billionaires-wealth-jeff-bezos/267604/

Study: Coronavirus Has a Been a Massive Boon for America's Billionaires
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-05-15
A new study found that in the past eight weeks alone, the country's super wealthy have added a further $368.8 billion to their already enormous fortunes.
mintpressnews.com/study-coronavirus-billionaires-wealth-jeff-bezos/267604/

Is Universal Basic Income the Way Out of the Current Economic Crisis?
Ellen Brown | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-15
Philip's third interview with Ellen Brown focused on the Universal Basic Income, which Philip believes is the ONLY way out of the current economic crisis. The social distancing forced by the COVID-19 epidemic has shut down the country, and one-time …
globalresearch.ca/universal-basic-income-current-economic-crisis/5712994

Dispatch from the Frontlines: Gender Inequality and COVID-19 (CPCC)
Congressional Progressive Caucus Ctr & others | indybay.org | 2020-05-15
Online livestream & Zoom…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/05/13/18833009.php

War and Plagues: Military Spending During a Pandemic
Andrey Areshev | strategic-culture.org | 2020-05-15
Conn HALLINAN"There have been as many plagues as wars in history, yet plagues and wars take people equally by surprise" |

The Real Coronavirus Victims: Relations between People
Dr. Pascal Sacré | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-15
Phenomenal profits in the offing. A veritable gush of dollars and euros to come for the majority shareholders and CEOs of Big Pharma, who are already immensely wealthy.
globalresearch.ca/the-real-coronavirus-victims-relations-between-people/5712970

The Real Coronavirus Victims: Relations between People
Dr. Pascal Sacré | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-15
Phenomenal profits in the offing. A real gush of dollars and euros to come for the majority shareholders and CEOs of Big Pharma, who are already immensely wealthy. In the meantime, the constitutional rights dearly acquired by our ancestors are under attack.
globalresearch.ca/the-real-coronavirus-victims-relations-between-people/5712970

Three million more US workers apply for unemployment, reaching 36 million in two months
wsws.org | 2020-05-15
On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reported that 40 percent of US households bringing in less than $40,000 a year lost a wage earner in March.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/05/15/tmmw-m15.html

Almost 3 million more applied for Unemployment Insurance last week
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-05-15
San José, CA – On Thursday, May 14, the Labor Department reported more bad news, saying that almost 3 million people applied for unemployment insurance in the previous week ending May 9. This means that over the last eight weeks more than 36 million people applied after losing jobs and income. Another 3.5 million are collecting the federal government's Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or PUA, which goes to the self-employed. This brings the total number of recently unemployed people to about 40 million. | This report was worse than mainstream economists expected, with a drop of only 200,000 from the week before,…
fightbacknews.org/2020/5/15/almost-3-million-more-applied-unemployment-insurance-last-week

War and Plagues: Military Spending During a Pandemic
Conn Hallinan | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-15
Welcome to the world of the hypersonic weapons, devices that are not only superfluous, but which will almost certainly not work, They will, however, cost enormous amounts of money. At a time when countries across the globe are facing economic chaos, financial deficits and unemployment at Great Depression levels, arms manufacturers are set to cash in big.
counterpunch.org/2020/05/15/war-and-plagues-military-spending-during-a-pandemic/

Back to work, or else: Trump administration tells states to pull unemployment benefits
Mark Gruenberg | peoplesworld.org | 2020-05-15
WASHINGTON–GOP President Donald Trump's Labor Secretary, Eugene Scalia, and his #2 who runs the agency that oversees jobless benefits want employers to report–and states to bar benefits from–workers who fear returning to their old jobs because their employers won't protect them against the coronavirus. The memo, from John Pallasch, a GOP operative, an advocate for …
peoplesworld.org/article/back-to-work-or-else-trump-administration-tells-states-to-pull-unemployment-benefits/

The Fed Hasn't Spent a Dime Yet for Main Street Versus $735 Billion for Wall Street
Pam Martens, Russ Martens | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-15
The stimulus bill known as the CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act) was signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 27. Among its many features (such as direct checks to struggling Americans and enhancing unemployment compensation by $600 per week for four months to unemployed workers so they could pay…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/15/the-fed-hasnt-spent-a-dime-yet-for-main-street-versus-735-billion-for-wall-street/

Coronavirus Pandemic Prompts Global Mental Health Crisis as Millions Feel Alone, Anxious & Depressed
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-05-14
Is the coronavirus pandemic generating a mental illness crisis? Millions face isolation, poverty and anxiety. We speak with psychology professor and author Andrew Solomon, as the United Nations calls on governments to put mental health "front and center" in their response to the crisis.
www.democracynow.org/2020/5/14/andrew_solomon

Working class democracy and centralism
Makasi Motema | workers.org | 2020-05-14
Painting shows V. I. Lenin speaking to soldiers and civilians. We are taught in school that the United States is a democracy, but this claim is completely divorced from the reality of class struggle. The wealthy ruling class, which owns the greater proportion of our economy through the stock market . . . | Continue reading Working class democracy and centralism at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/05/48598/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=working-class-democracy-and-centralism-ww-commentary

U.S. pandemic unemployment grows again, but so does the number of billionaires
PAI | peoplesworld.org | 2020-05-14
WASHINGTON–Some 2.981 million more people filed for jobless benefits in the week ending May 7, the Labor Department said Thursday, bringing total unemployment insurance claims since the coronavirus pandemic-caused shutdowns began to 36.5 million. Progressive analysts at the Economic Policy Institute predict jobless figures will only get worse, especially for low-wage workers, women workers, and …
peoplesworld.org/article/u-s-pandemic-unemployment-grows-again-but-so-does-the-number-of-billionaires/

US: Nearly 3 Million Newly Unemployed Ask for Subsidies
telesurenglish.net | 2020-05-14
Nearly 3 million U.S. workers filed for jobless benefits last week, bringing the total number of people applying for unemployment since the coronavirus pandemic erupted in March to 36 million. | RELATED: | US House $3T Stimulus Bill Dismisses Key Progressive Proposals | The U.S. Labor Department announced Thursday that 2.98 million people have applied for unemployment benefits in the country. | This brings the total number of unemployed people in the nation who took advantage o…
telesurenglish.net/news/us-nearly-3-million-newly-unemployed-ask-for-subsidies-20200514-0011.html

American Weapons Manufacturers Are Thriving Even as the US Economy Suffers
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-05-13
The economy has crashed. A nationwide pandemic that has (officially) claimed some 84,000 Americans has also resulted in an estimated 36 million filing for unemployment insurance and millions frequenting food banks for the first time. Yet business is booming for one unlikely industry; weapons manufacturers are busier than ever and are even advertising for tens of thousan…
mintpressnews.com/american-weapons-manufacturers-thriving-even-as-us-economy-suffers/267510/

US Jobless Rate Broke Depression-Era Record–but Most Media Missed It
Dave Lindorff | fair.org | 2020-05-13
The New York Times (5/9/20) featured a chart of job losses that stretched all the way down the front page. | The Bureau of Labor Statistics' eagerly awaited Friday morning Official Unemployment Rate report for April–what editors generally call the BLS's "headline" rate of unemployment –was definitely headline-worthy. This was especially evident in the next day's New York Times (5/9/20), which ran a bar chart of historic unemployment going back to 1946 across the top of the front page, and then a long red bar down the right-hand column of the entire page showing job losses for April. | It was a drama…
fair.org/home/us-jobless-rate-broke-depression-era-record-but-most-media-missed-it/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=us-jobless-rate-broke-depression-era-record-but-most-media-missed-it

The Censorship of Inequality in the Covid-19 Era: How Corporate and Market-Based Metrics Rule the News, and Why it Matters
Project Censored | projectcensored.org | 2020-05-12
By Anthony DiMaggio The old adage that "the more things change the more they stay the same" seems particularly appropriate to media coverage in the Covid-19 crisis. Old patterns of media…
projectcensored.org/the-censorship-of-inequality-in-the-covid-19-era-how-corporate-and-market-based-metrics-rule-the-news-and-why-it-matters/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-censorship-of-inequality-in-the-covid-19-era-how-corporate-and-market-based-metrics-rule-the-news-and-why-it-matters

New York pandemic spending favors wealthy over workers
Vincent Tsai and Camden Goetz | liberationnews.org | 2020-05-10
New York politicians have recently barreled forward with plans for massive cuts to public spending.
liberationnews.org/new-york-pandemic-spending-favors-wealthy-over-workers/