(2020-04-26). Plan B? Branson reportedly mulls selling Virgin Atlantic as he waits for bailout. rt.com 
Billionaire Richard Branson wants to find a buyer for Virgin Atlantic by the end of May as talks to save the airline from the coronavirus-spurred collapse have still not resulted in success, the Sunday Telegraph reported. | The troubled UK-based airline has reportedly hired investment bank Houlihan Lokey to secure the deal. The lender already has over a hundred potential bidders, with around half of them asking for more information about the offer. | According to the news outlet, hedge fund Lansdowne Partners, Singapore wealth fund Temasek and Northill Capital, as well as US based firms Centerbridge Partners a…
(2020-04-26). Reopening the Economy Now Will Send Us Deeper Into Hell. truthout.org This story was originally published at As we head into the fifth month of the outbreak millions of working families feel like they have been kidnapped and sent to hell. | As unemployment (officially reported) soars toward 30 percent or more, an estimated 20 million more people will fall helplessly below the poverty line. In a recent Pew poll, 60 percent of Latinos reported losing jobs or wages, as did more than half of all workers below the age of 30. In add…
(2020-04-26). Asian American Voices on Anti-Asian Violence During COVID-19 (Online). indybay.org Online via livestream…
(2020-04-25). Death Panel Ezekiel: "No Choice" but Mass Poverty and Death. globalresearch.ca If several weeks of state-imposed house arrest and unemployment have maxed out your stress level, wait until you hear what the experts have in mind to "mitigate" a bad seasonal influenza. | Here is
(2020-04-25). The Solutions to the Climate Crisis No One is Talking About. commondreams.org "We deserve a world without fossil fuels," writes Reich. "A world in which workers and communities thrive and our shared climate comes before industry profits." (Image: Inequality Media) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/climate_crisis_solutions_reich.jpg …
(2020-04-25). US elderly care devastated by the profit system. wsws.org The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the failure of the American health care system, and the inability of the wealthiest country on Earth to take care of its elderly and infirm.
(2020-04-24). Is it time to think about Unemployed Councils? peoplesworld.org 
Editor's Note: There were periods in U.S. history when workers responded to high jobless rates by forming "unemployed councils." In this article, a labor activist who was involved in the 1980s in setting up such a council describes his experiences. Some are asking whether similar movements might help in these times of high unemployment. We …
(2020-04-24). Ten Things You Can Do Now to Curb Wall Street's Wealth Transfer System. counterpunch.org 
This article has been updated from one that originally ran in 2012. Please consider emailing it to friends and family members who have given up hope on their ability to create change in America. The late 1920s and the early 2000s had two things in common. There was an unprecedented level of wealth and income
(2020-04-24). California sets disaster relief, local officials urge protection for undocumented. peoplesworld.org 
Among those feeling the sharpest impact from COVID-19 are undocumented immigrant workers facing partial or total unemployment because of the pandemic. Their plight is causing special concern among California elected officials at every level, from school board and city council members through Gov. Gavin Newsom. These workers, who make up some 10% of California's workforce …
(2020-04-24). We Cannot Expect Capitalists to Manage a Pandemic. dissidentvoice.org 
It is unrealistic to expect capitalists to manage any social crisis. Their goal is to accumulate capital, which they do exceptionally well, as evidenced by their enormous wealth in a world where billions struggle to survive. Capitalists are highly skilled at sustaining their rule. They prioritize military spending in order to defend and expand their …
(2020-04-24). Italy: COVID-19 Plunged One Million People Into Poverty. telesurenglish.net The National Confederation of Direct Farmers (Coldiretti) reported that one million Italians have fallen into poverty and need urgent food aid due to the pandemic's consequences. | RELATED: | People who require food aid include those who lost their jobs, those who cannot work from home, people who do not have access to public aid or personal savings, people who do temporary jobs, small merchants, and artisans. | To make these es…
(2020-04-24). Florida voting rights trial to be argued online. splcenter.org When the Southern Poverty Law Center goes to trial next week over a law undercutting the biggest expansion of suffrage since the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the judge will not be on the bench, but in a remote location, staring at his computer screen.
(2020-04-24). The Settler Colonialism Project. counterpunch.org I had this fantasy that the New York Times would follow up its 1619 Project look at slavery with a comparable examination of Settler Colonialism. Instead, they made a pivot from slavery to what they are calling the "Inequality Project. Apparently the Times is OK with that whole settler colonialism thing. Well, not just OK.
(2020-04-24). New Stimulus Must Include Benefits for Immigrant Essential Workers. counterpunch.org As soon as it passed, Congressional lawmakers realized the $2.2 trillion CARES stimulus package to help the country through the COVID-19 pandemic would not suffice. Yes, U.S.-born workers would eventually get $1,200 checks and significantly expanded unemployment insurance. But some essential workers have been left out in the cold. The Trump administration's refusal to put
(2020-04-24). Largest economic decline since the Great Depression. fightbacknews.org San José, CA – More than 4 million more Americans filed for Unemployment Insurance, or UI, benefits last week according to the latest Labor Department report on Thursday, April 23. This brings the total number of new claims over the last five weeks to 27 million. | While the number of new claims did drop by a million new claims from the week before, it was still the highest number on record aside from the previous two weeks. Adding last week's jobless workers to the unemployment rate brings it to more than 20%, closing in on the Great Depression record of 25% unemployment. There are still many laid-off workers w…
(2020-04-22). Chileans Who Took to Streets Against Inequality & Climate Crisis Say Virus Lockdowns Won't Stop Them. democracynow.org 
Months ago, the streets of Santiago and other Chilean cities were alive with a vibrant mass protest movement that drew hundreds of thousands and even led the U.N. climate summit to be relocated to Madrid, Spain, last December. Now the public spaces of Santiago are largely empty as citizens shelter in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But the protest movement against austerity and right-wing President Sebastián Piñera lives on as activists find new ways to organize online. We go to Santiago, Chile, to speak with Angela Valenzuela, a 350.org organizer who has been active both in the country's uprising and in…
(2020-04-22). 2020 Election Year Is an Opportunity for Transformational Change If We Embrace Our Power. dissidentvoice.org 
Although we do not tie our organizing to the election cycle, the 2020 election is an opportunity for the people to set the agenda for the 2020s. We need to show that whether Donald Trump or Joe Biden are elected, the people will rule from below. We need to build our power to demand the transformational …
(2020-04-21). NYC Immigrant Communities Fight Hunger, Exploitation & Invisibility Through Mutual Aid. democracynow.org 
We look at how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting undocumented people here in New York City, where the coronavirus has hit immigrant communities the hardest, even as the numbers of daily deaths statewide has declined in recent days. As reports of widespread poverty and hunger continue in the immigrant communities, people are also organizing and helping each other through mutual aid despite extraordinarily difficult circumstances. We are joined by Juan Carlos Ruiz, Lutheran pastor at Good Shepherd Church in Brooklyn and co-founder of the national New Sanctuary Movement and the New Sanctuary Coalition here in Ne…
(2020-04-11). SPLC condemns attack on Alabama synagogue. splcenter.org The Southern Poverty Law Center condemns the antisemitic attacks that took place during Passover at the Etz Chayim Synagogue in Huntsville, Alabama.
(2020-04-08). Why is Alliance Defending Freedom a Hate Group? splcenter.org The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) first listed Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) as an anti-LGBTQ hate group in 2016.
(2020-04-24). As Allegations of Mistreatment and Unsafe Conditions Mount, Amnesty International Declares It Stands With Amazon Workers. commondreams.org "Amazon is one of the world's wealthiest companies and its profits are surging as a result of this crisis. It is repugnant that the company's workforce feel their safety is not being taken seriously." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/amazon_coronavirus_0_1.jpg …
(2020-04-24). Highest Levels Since Great Depression, 'Sobering' CBO Analysis Projects 16% Unemployment in US This Year. commondreams.org New analysis by the Congressional Budget Office offered what one observer called an "incredibly sobering" projection for unemployment levels for the coming two years as the U.S. recovers from the coronavirus pandemic. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-1220244720_1.jpg …
