(2020-12-02). Independent report finds myriad problems with pandemic relief, jobless aid. peoplesworld.org 
WASHINGTON—The federal government's effort to help the millions of people harmed—physically, economically, or both—by the coronavirus pandemic suffers from myriad problems, a new independent report says. And the non-partisan Government Accountability Office adds that in states' own rush to get jobless aid to people, such as gig workers, who don't qualify for regular unemployment benefits, …
(2020-12-02). Book Review of The Inner Level. zcomm.org As this book both documents and generously discusses, rising income inequality leads to a plague of ills: higher rates of people in prison, higher teenage birth rates, higher rates of mental illness, more child neglect and bullying…
(2020-12-02). Inequality Gone Viral: The Obscene Numbers. zcomm.org Something has to be done to heal the rupture in the sickened body of our nation…
(2020-12-02). Tuesday 12/15: Equity in Health Care: The Awful Truth About Race, Economic Status & U.S. Health Care. indybay.org Online via livestream…
(2020-12-02). McConnell COVID Plan: No Direct Payments and Stricter Unemployment Requirements. truthout.org Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday began circulating a Described as a "targeted"
(2020-12-01). "I spoke to impoverished families in 1975 and little has changed since then" dissidentvoice.org 
A British family from the film Smashing Kids, 1975. Photograph: John Garrett John Pilger interviewed Irene Brunsden in Hackney, east London about only being able to feed her two-year-old a plate of cornflakes in 1975. Now he sees nervous women queueing at foodbanks with their children as it's revealed 600,000 more kids are in poverty …
(2020-12-01). On unemployment benefits, Wall Street Journal's 'common sense' is nonsense. peoplesworld.org 
"The latest attempt to defy common sense is a study by Yale economists that purportedly finds the $600 federal enhancement to jobless benefits hasn't affected the incentive to work. But the study offers limited evidence for this conclusion, which is contradicted by other data and real-world evidence." —Editorial Board, "Economists vs. Common Sense: If you …
(2020-12-01). #22. An Emergency Wealth Tax to Confront Coronavirus Pandemic. projectcensored.org From March 18 to May 14, 2020, more than 36 million US workers lost their jobs, while the wealth of US billionaires increased by more than $368 billion, an increase…
(2020-12-01). COVID-19 can spark new generation of social protection measures: UN chief. news.un.org While COVID-19 has wiped out important development gains in mere months, with extreme poverty rising for the first time in decades, the pandemic could spark the transformations needed to achieve stronger social protection systems, the UN Secretary-General said on Tuesday.
(2020-12-01). Tuesday 12/8: "The Dreamt Land: Chasing Water and Dust Across California" Book Talk w/ Mark Arax, Author. indybay.org Online via Zoom…
(2020-11-30). The Planet Cannot Heal Until We Rip the Mask Off the West's War Machine. counterpunch.org 
Making political sense of the world can be tricky unless one understands the role of the state in capitalist societies. The state is not primarily there to represent voters or uphold democratic rights and values; it is a vehicle for facilitating and legitimating the concentration of wealth and power into fewer and fewer hands.
(2020-11-30). Iraq: Sadrists' deadly violence prompts fears for upcoming elections. middleeasteye.net 
Iraq: Sadrists' deadly violence prompts fears for upcoming elections | The government's failure to confront violent militias is stoking fears of delaying parliamentary elections, a major demand of the 2019 uprising | Mon, 11/30/2020 – 12: 37 | A demonstrator sits down on the rubble of a destroyed protest encampment in Nasiriyah's Haboubi square, Iraq on 28 November 2020 (MEE/Asaad Mohammed)…
(2020-11-30). Austerity Is Still A Political Choice. popularresistance.org When Rishi Sunak delivered the spending review earlier this week, the coverage focused predictably on levels of government borrowing. With GDP set to contract by more than 11% in 2020 — the largest fall in three centuries — and unemployment expected to reach 7.5%, government spending is the only thing standing between the UK economy and complete economic meltdown. As a result, we're forecast to see the highest levels of public borrowing since the Second World War. | In this context, Sunak felt the need to balance some new spending pledges…
(2020-11-30). As pandemic aid ends, California families face brutal new year. zcomm.org An estimated 750,000 Californians are set to lose federal unemployment benefits the day after Christmas, and 2.1 million could lose their homes weeks later when a statewide eviction moratorium lifts…
(2020-11-30). The Economy Isn't Working. That's Exactly the Plan. commondreams.org Inequality is reaching feudal proportions, where very few own almost everything, and everyone else is crushed under the wheel of engineered destitution. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/reagan_lies_0.jpg …
(2020-11-30). Violent attacks against anti-government protesters in Iraq leave seven dead. peoplesdispatch.org Anti-government protests in Iraq entered the third day on November 29, Sunday. As many as seven people were killed in the previous two days. Massive protests took place in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and southern parts of the country, including the cities of Nasiriyah, Kut and Amara. The anti-government protesters were met by thousands of armed followers of influential Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. His followers reportedly attacked and clashed with the protesters in Nasiriyah, resulting in the deaths of seven people and wounding 60 others. | The epicenter of the violence was the Haboubi square in Nasiriyah, wh…
(2020-11-30). Wednesday 12/9: Impact of COVID-19 on Refugees & Aid Workers in the Middle East. indybay.org Online via livestream (FREE)…
(2020-11-30). The Actual Effects of Enhanced Unemployment Benefits. zcomm.org Overwhelming evidence supports quite a different bedtime story—one that calls for far more humane unemployment policies…