2020-09-29: News Headlines

The Canary (2020-09-29). Former Sainsbury's boss to take on key Test and Trace role. thecanary.co The former chief executive of Sainsbury's is to take over as testing director at Test and Trace.Mike Coupe, who retired as chief executive officer of Sainsbury's at the end of May, is set to replace Sarah-Jane Marsh who is returning to her post as chief executive of Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust.Dido Harding, who runs NHS Test and Trace and is interim executive chair of the National Institute for Health Protection, said in an email to staff that Mr Coupe "will bring a wealth of experience in large scale supply chains, logistics and digital transformation".Baroness Dido Harding (Dominic Li…

Dean Baker (2020-09-29). How's that Recovery Going? cepr.net Donald Trump boasts endlessly about the economic recovery and insists that people are doing great now. The numbers disagree. We will get the last employment report before the election on Friday. The unemployment rate reported for August was 8.4 percent. We'll see what happens on Friday, but we are not doing especially well compared to …

Shelley Ettinger (2020-09-28). As poverty deepens / Black community fights police terror. workers.org San Antonio After summer-long mobilizations against racism, white supremacy, and killer cops, activists in San Antonio continued fighting on several fronts as fall arrived. Youth pay homage to police victim, Darrell Zemault Sr. Outraged protests have been ongoing since Sept. 15, when officers of the San Antonio Police Department shot . . . |

Sam Pizzigati (2020-09-28). The Real Threat to Democracy: Concentrated Wealth. counterpunch.org A White House that muses openly about not counting votes. A Senate rushing to cement in place a fiercely conservative Supreme Court. We have plenty of reasons these days to despair for our democracy. The Commission on Presidential Debates has just added another. This independent blue-ribbon panel has produced every presidential debate since 1988. The

Thomas Magstadt (2020-09-28). From superpower to failed state: Inequality and the public health crisis in America. nationofchange.org The pandemic has shined a spotlight on the failings of leaders and elites.

Gregory N. Heires (2020-09-28). Europe Protects Jobs While the United States Accepts Mass Layoffs. zcomm.org The differences in unemployment levels reflect dramatically contrasting philosophies about the role of government and public policy—dare we say even opposing moral perspectives…

Kenny Stancil, staff writer (2020-09-28). Analysis Shows Nearly 80% of US Household Wealth Owned by Millionaires and Billionaires. commondreams.org "If we really want to tackle wealth inequality in this country, it is this wealth that we need to spread around." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/pie__0.png

Sarah Anderson, Brian Wakamo (2020-09-28). Inequality and Covid-19 in 13 Charts. commondreams.org Data also indicate that more equal societies are better able to handle the pandemic. (Photo: Kena Betancu/AFP via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/unemployment_coronavirus_0_0.jpg

Staff (2020-09-27). The First 2020 Presidential Debate Needs to Address Wealth and Income Inequality. truthout.org White House that muses openly about not counting votes. A Senate rushing to cement in place a fiercely conservative Supreme Court. We have plenty of reasons these days to despair for our democracy. The Commission on Presidential Debates has just added another. | This independent blue-ribbon panel has produced every presidential debate since 1988. The 2020 debate series will launch this coming Tuesday, and the Commission has now announced the six topics that will each get 15 minutes at the…

Carla Stea (2020-09-27). The Weaponization of Human Rights. globalresearch.ca China's Communist "Dictatorship" Lifts 700 Million Chinese Citizens Out Of Poverty: Yet India is Adored by Western Pundits, While China is Demonized and Sanctioned | *** | "The first human right is the right to life." Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign …

The Canary (2020-09-27). SNP slams UK government for making 'a deliberate choice' to increase unemployment. thecanary.co The UK government has made a "deliberate choice" to allow unemployment to increase with their replacement for the furlough scheme, the SNP has claimed. | Criticism: | With the job retention scheme due to end in October, chancellor Rishi Sunak announced on Thursday 24 September a new scheme to top up the wages of workers whose employers can only bring them back on reduced hours. The scheme has drawn criticism from opposition parties along with the Resolution Foundation and the Institute for Fiscal Studies. They say it will not help to slow the tide of unemployment expected as the UK enters a second wave of…

news.un (2020-09-26). FROM THE FIELD: COVID-19's 'deadly layer of complexity' depicted in photos. news.un.org The fall-out from the COVID-19 pandemic is adding a "deadly layer of complexity" to the global challenge of preventing more people from falling into poverty, a view articulated in a photographic exhibition sponsored by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

WSWS (2020-09-26). After the exoneration of Breonna Taylor's killers: The way forward in the fight against police violence. wsws.org The ubiquity of police violence in the US, with approximately 1,000 people killed every year, is bound up with the extreme growth of social inequality and class tensions.

teleSUR (2020-09-26). Portugal: Workers Demand Gov't Action Against Unemployment. telesurenglish.net Portuguese workers protested on Saturday to demand better salaraies and governmental action on employment protection during the COVID-19 pandemic. | RELATED: | The General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP) organized and convened peaceful demonstrations to demand that the government to raise the minimum salary from 635 euros to 850. Participants maintained social distance and wore masks. | "Workers' ri…

Sam Pizzigati (2020-09-26). Let's Start Debating What Dooms Democracy: Concentrated Wealth. zcomm.org Why we need to shove inequality onto America's political center stage…

WSWS (2020-09-26). Former Australian PM Paul Keating lashes central bank. wsws.org Keating's overriding concern is the explosive social and political consequences of rising unemployment resulting from the deepening crisis of the capitalist economy.

Derrick Z. Jackson (2020-09-26). Why Environmental Justice Needs to Be on the Docket in the Presidential Debates. commondreams.org If you want to talk about the inequality in our economy, COVID-19, race, and silent violence in our cities, you need to start with environmental injustice to Black and brown families. (Photo: Marcus Johnstone/CC BY-NC 2.0) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/environmental-justice-debates-2020.jpg

WSWS (2020-09-25). Social distress mounts in the US as new weekly jobless claims rise to 870,000. wsws.org The number of active unemployment claims, 24.1 million in total, far surpasses anything seen during the Great Recession of 2008-2009.

WSWS (2020-09-25). Study finds 90 percent of Americans would make 67 percent more without last four decades of increasing income inequality. wsws.org The study from the RAND Corporation provides new data on the incredible shift of income from the bottom 90 percent of the population to the top 10 percent.

Fight Back (2020-09-25). Layoffs continue as economic crisis drags on. fightbacknews.org San José, CA – The latest weekly report on new applications for regular state unemployment insurance showed an unexpected increase in new claims. The Department of Labor, on Thursday, September 24, said that there were 870,000 people who filed for state unemployment benefits in the week ending September 19, up slightly from 866,000 the week before. However, most economists expected a sizable drop to 850,000. | While the weekly reports are far below the weekly reports of late March and early April which topped 6 million, it is still above the highest number before the current recession and shows that the layoffs a…