Daily Archives: September 13, 2020

2020-09-13: News Headlines

Follow the Money (2020-09-13). 9/14/20 Trump Fund Raises in Cal While Learning of Fire Damage. indybay.org On 9/14/20, Republican Trump plans to land in Sacramento to be briefed on fire damage which has caused most of us to choke on the smoke for 28 days. Since he is cutting his staff's salaries, this can only be a fundraising trip to a wealthy state where he has no chance of winning Electoral College votes. See abc7news.com/trump-to-visit-fire-ravaged-california-monday/6420211/

Dolores Perez Heilbron (2020-09-13). Sunday 9/13: The Racial Wealth Gap in the U.S. indybay.org Zoom lecture online from First Unitarian Unviersalist Society of San Francisco – Humanist & Non-Theist group.

Caitlin Johnstone (2020-09-12). The Assange Trial, And Other Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix. thealtworld.com ~ | "Assange isn't a journalist! He has an agenda!" | Every journalist in the world has an agenda. It just happens that most journalists have fame, wealth and esteem as their agenda while Assange's agenda is, in his own words, "crushing bastards". | It's crazy how there are still people who try to claim Assange isn't a journalist. He is, and it's not even debatable. Publishing information that informs the public about what's going on in the world is exactly the thing that journalism is. | ~ | The mainstream press have been far, far less critical of immensely powerful world-dominating government agencies than they…

G. Dunkel (2020-09-12). While the stock market is booming, jobs report hides hunger. workers.org Getting enough food was hard for people working low-wage jobs before the pandemic. Now it's harder, given the huge increase in unemployment — 29 million jobless workers now live off meager unemployment insurance. Millions without work are getting nothing, and more than 50 million people are "food insecure," meaning they . . . |

RT (2020-09-12). Head of Russia's Sovereign Wealth Fund says its Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine carries fewer risks than rival British formula. rt.com The pause in trials of Britain's Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine after an adverse reaction in a participant shows how risky the technology is, and why the developers of Russia's Sputnik V have chosen another platform. | That's according to Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, which is bankrolling the Russian formula's development. He was speaking as it was revealed that the British trials were resumed on Saturday with the approval of national regulators. | AstraZeneca announced the suspension of its phase-three trial on Tuesday, after one of the trial participants suffered a "serious…

WSWS (2020-09-12). Why did so many poor New Yorkers die of COVID-19? wsws.org Inequality, including in-hospital care, determined whether thousands of people in New York City would die of COVID-19.

WSWS (2020-09-12). US jobless claims top 884,000 for second week in a row. wsws.org With no congressional relief in sight, millions of workers are seeing meager unemployment benefits expire while layoffs continue to mount.

Staff (2020-09-11). Headlines for September 11, 2020. democracynow.org 500,000 Evacuated Across Oregon as Record-Shattering Fires Rage in Western States, AstraZeneca CEO Warned Investors of Vaccine Recipient Who Became Ill, Trump Admin Fines Pork Processor $13,500 for Lapses at Plant Where 1,300 Contracted Coronavirus, India Records Another Record Daily Coronavirus Toll, Senate Coronavirus Relief Bill Fails as Another 857,000 File New Unemployment Claims, Amazon Accused of Price Gouging After Raising Prices Up to 1,000% During Lockdown, Philadelphia Activists Defy City Order to Vacate Encampment for Unhoused Residents, Joe Biden Says He May Further Increase Military Spending If Elec…

Prof Michel Chossudovsky (2020-09-11). Chile, September 11, 1973: The Inauguration of Neoliberalism,"Shock Treatment" and the Instruments of Economic Repression: The Junta's Deadly "Economic Medicine" globalresearch.ca The Junta ordered a hike in the price of bread from 11 to 40 escudos. While food prices had skyrocketed, wages had been frozen. From one day to the next, an entire country had been precipitated into abysmal poverty; in less than a year the price of bread in Chile increased thirty-six fold.

Martin Hart-Landsberg (2020-09-11). Times remain hard, especially for low-wage workers. mronline.org The current economic crisis has hit workers hard. Unemployment rates remain high, with total weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits continuing to grow.

Stephen Lendman (2020-09-11). For Nearly Six Months, Weekly US Unemployment Claims Exceed One Million. globalresearch.ca Since March, weekly US claims for unemployment insurance (UI) were greater than ever before in the nation's history for 25 straight weeks. | What seemed unimaginable when 2020 began is cold, hard reality. | Over one million jobless US workers continue to …

Fight Back (2020-09-11). Texas entertainment workers rally to push for $600 and pass HEROES Act. fightbacknews.org Austin, TX – On the morning of September 8, a group of around 100 unemployed artisans, designers, technicians, stagehands and other entertainment industry workers held a protest to push for $600 in unemployment benefits and pass the HEROES Act now. The protest was organized by IATSE Local 484 and Local 205, along with many independent contractors. | Participants gathered at the Paramount Theatre and marched with 60 road cases up to the state capitol building for a rally. Chants included, "Push for 600, HEROES Act now!" and "They say cut back, we say fight back!" The action wrapped up with a march to the Texas AFL…

Fight Back (2020-09-11). Unemployment insurance numbers rise across the board. fightbacknews.org San José, CA – The latest report on unemployment insurance by the Department of Labor showed larger numbers across a number of measures. The number of new claims for regular state UI the week ending September 5 increased by 20,000 from the previous week. The same for the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance or PUA for self-employed and gig workers, which rose by more than 90,000, or 12%. Together total new claims rose to almost 1.7 million for the latest week. | The numbers of continuing claims, which show how many people are actually collecting benefits, also rose. The number of people getting regular state…

Travis Schirmer (2020-09-11). We Need a People's Bailout as Inequality Worsens Amid COVID-19. zcomm.org The time for an emergency refund is now — all money acquired through price-gouging and loopholes needs to be returned. The choice is between collapse and giving people what is rightfully theirs…

Detlef Umbach (2020-09-11). Trump's time is running out! indybay.org His record as president is modest. The economy is in crisis, unemployment is at record levels, and longer-term projects such as the reduction of large foreign trade deficits and the Great Wall at the border have not progressed beyond initial stages. Trump's foreign and trade policy is so fickle and unclear that it is hard to find anything positive from it for the election campaign.

commondreams (2020-09-11). Federal Appeals Court Affirms Wealth-Based Barriers to Voting. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Jack Rasmus (2020-09-10). America's Current Job 'Great Depression'. zcomm.org What follows is a debunking of the 8.4% unemployment rate and a quantitative explanation why that rate is 25%—as well as a statement of the forces that will likely result in an even further deterioration in the unemployment rate in the 2020-21 period ahead…

Liberation Staff (2020-09-10). Jason Hamilton (1994-2020). liberationnews.org Jason Hamilton Jason L. Hamilton, age 25, an accomplished young activist, member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and a co-founder of the Socialist Rifle Association, died Aug. 27 from brain cancer. Born in 1994, Hamilton grew up in a time when the aftermath of "Reaganomics" and "tough-on-crime" policies were dramatically increasing inequality in …

RT (2020-09-10). 'Orwellian in the extreme': Conservatives slam media for appearing to blame GOP for Dems' decision to tank Covid-19 relief bill. rt.com Conservatives are slamming mainstream media outlets after their almost identical coverage of the Senate Democrats' decision to vote against a coronavirus relief bill appeared to blame Republicans for the "failure." | After months of negotiations, a coronavirus stimulus package, which included funding for schools and Covid-19 testing, unemployment benefits, and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), was voted down by every Democrat in the Senate on Thursday. The only Republican to join them was Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky). | Needing 60 votes to pass, the bill earned a 52-47 outcome and it's now unlikely a coron…

Andrew McCormick (2020-09-10). These Big City Mayors Want Green Stimulus Spending to Counter Covid-19. commondreams.org Climate activists from Extinction Rebellion attend a protest against the expansion of Stansted Airport on 29 August 2020 in Bishop's Stortford, United Kingdom. (Photo: Mark Kerrison/In Pictures via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/buildbackbetter.jpg

Kenny Stancil, staff writer (2020-09-10). States Already Out of Unemployment Cash Helps Prove Much-Predicted Failure of Trump's Executive Action on Covid-19 Relief. commondreams.org "America's economy is getting hammered, but when those who need help most look to Washington they see Senate Republicans posturing with bad legislation and the White House refusing to negotiate." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/unemployment_8.jpg

WSWS (2020-09-09). Wealth of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos surpasses $200 billion. wsws.org According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the world's 500 richest people have accumulated an additional $809 billion so far this year, increasing their total wealth by around 14 percent.

Dave Lindorff (2020-09-09). Trump Disses Troops but Correctly Labels 2 of America's Costliest Wars Unjustified or 'Stupid'. counterpunch.org Let's be honest about America's wars and the men (overwhelmingly) and women who have fought them. Most of the wars that the US has launched or fought in, dating back to at least the War of 1812, were not just or necessary, could have been avoided, and wasted precious lives and national wealth, often while

WSWS (2020-09-09). "Pandemic be damned": Forbes 400 wealthiest Americans list reveals billionaire bonanza. wsws.org The annual list of the richest people in the US shows the enormous fortunes made during the pandemic while tens of millions have lost their jobs.