Monthly Archives: December 2020

2020-12-29: News Headlines

Rick Baum (2020-12-29). The Wealth Inequality Virus is Surging. counterpunch.org If money is the source of happiness, and having more money means more happiness, some of our multi-billionaire friends have reached unprecedented levels of happiness in recent years especially during the pandemic when their level of wealth has skyrocketed. These conditions are revealed in the latest figures on the distribution of wealth from the Federal Reserve Board that cover through the third quarter of 2020, and the daily figures put out by Bloomberg.

Ralph Nader (2020-12-29). Recidivist Criminal and Constitutional Outlaw Trump Rushes to Pardon Criminal Lawbreakers. counterpunch.org Serial lawbreaker Donald J. Trump is embarking on the most sordid presidential pardon spree in American history. He has already pardoned convicted crooks, thieves, and violent outlaws. Trump's pardon lawyers are frantically assembling more MAGA besotted individuals and groups to be pardoned wholesale. The number may climb into the hundreds. The queue is long. Trump

Richard Becker (2020-12-29). Colonialist Injustice: The Pardoning of the Blackwater Killers. globalresearch.ca Along with a motley collection of wealthy swindlers and fraudsters, President Donald Trump on Dec. 22 pardoned four former Blackwater private contractors (mercenaries) convicted in the infamous Sept. 16, 2007, Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad. | Seventeen Iraqis were killed and …

Dean Baker (2020-12-29). End of the Year Thoughts on Inequality and Its Remedies. cepr.net The approach of the end of the year seems a good time to sum up thoughts. My comments here will not be news to regular readers, but may be to others. Also, this exercise is helpful for me to keep my thoughts clear. (I also expect to take next week off, so you won't be …

_____ (2020-12-29). Biden Chooses Tom "Mr. Monsanto" Vilsack As Agriculture Secretary. popularresistance.org After weeks of rumors, President-elect Joe Biden confirmed last week that he has picked Tom Vilsack as his secretary of agriculture. Vilsack previously held the position under the Obama administration, from 2009 to 2017. This decision has disappointed many progressive Democrats who were hoping Biden's cabinet picks would include a more diverse coalition and signal a push to the left. Vilsack, on the contrary, is quite literally more of the same: a wealthy white man and establishment Democrat with countless corporate interests and an atrocious record on climate change and civil rights. | We should not be surprised…

WSWS (2020-12-29). Housing crisis fuels poverty and inequality in New Zealand. wsws.org Two workers living in Porirua, where the median rent is $595 a week, told the WSWS that the Labour Party government had done nothing to improve living standards.

Toby Freeman, Fran Baum (2020-12-28). In the Fight Against Poor Health, the USA Is Punching Well Below Its Weight. commondreams.org By focusing more on battling inequality, new research shows, the United States could significantly improve American life expectancy. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/healthcare_inequality_1.jpg

sputniknews (2020-12-28). US Labor Dept., States Scramble to Avoid Delay in COVID-19 Unemployment Benefits. sputniknews.com While the $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill signed into law by US President Donald Trump on Sunday provides extra unemployment benefits, many states will have to wait until January to begin disbursing those funds.

Daniel Raventós, Julie Wark (2020-12-27). The European Citizens' Initiative for a Basic Income. counterpunch.org There are no precedents that can serve as a reference for Europe's economic and social situation right now. The 2020 European Commission indicators show a drop of 8.3% for GDP growth, while the OECD sets the figure at about 9% for the eurozone. The country-by-country forecasts showing considerable inequality within the EU are calamitous and,

RT (2020-12-27). HUNDREDS of Brits 'vanish' from Swiss ski resort after being ordered into quarantine amid new Covid-19 strain scare. rt.com Authorities in the Swiss canton of Valais have been left perplexed as hundreds of UK tourists vanished into thin air after the Swiss government ordered them into 10-day quarantine amid concerns over a new Covid-19 strain. | Verbier, a Swiss ski resort extremely popular among wealthy British tourists, has suddenly seen about half the Brits who came there to spend their Christmas holidays disappear without a trace. | The strange incident appears to be little but an act of defiance, though, as the Swiss authorities had earlier imposed a retroactive 10-day quarantine on all arrivals from the UK, backdated to inclu…

Hugo Turner (2020-12-27). Guatemala: War and Revolution. globalresearch.ca The CIA coup to overthrow Jacobo Arbenz in 1954 would put the nation of Guatemala on the path to a nightmare future of poverty, war, and genocide. The United States would reshape Guatemala's intelligence military and police to fight a …

Igor Derysh (2020-12-27). 50-year study of tax cuts on wealthy shows they always fail to "trickle down" salon.com Tax cuts for the rich increase inequality and don't grow the economy or decrease unemployment, research shows…

Chauncey DeVega (2020-12-27). Historian Anthony Harkins on the real story of white poverty and "Hillbilly Elegy" salon.com Editor of "Appalachian Reckoning" on why J.D. Vance's simplistic tale of uplift became a national phenomenon…

news.un (2020-12-27). Young Champions of the Earth: trashing barriers to boost recycling in Kuwait. news.un.org An electrical engineer from Kuwait is being recognized by the United Nations for her success in raising the environmental importance and economic value of recycling in one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

David Skripac (2020-12-25). COVID-19: A Fabricated Second "Tidal Wave" of Poverty and Injustice. globalresearch.ca Here we are at the end of a year filled with upheaval, facing yet another round of lockdowns, this time ostensibly intended to fight off a supposed "second wave of COVID-19." | In the foreground, we have the completely co-opted mainstream …

Robert Reich (2020-12-25). How the Richest 1 Percent Came Out Big Winners in the Covid Relief Bill. commondreams.org Republicans didn't blink twice when they handed out $6.3 billion in tax breaks to their wealthy corporate backers, but when it came to getting direct relief to struggling Americans $600 was the best they could do. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/mcconnell.png

Online News Editor (2020-12-25). Japan unemployment falls to 2.9 pct in November. laprensalatina.com Tokyo, Dec 25 (efe-epa).- The unemployment rate in Japan fell in November to 2.9 percent of the workforce, two tenths less than the level registered last October, according to data released Friday by the government. The 3.1 percent unemployment rate registered in October, linked to the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, was the highest …

Ellen Brown (2020-12-25). Tackling the Infrastructure and Unemployment Crises: The "American System" Solution. dissidentvoice.org A self-funding national infrastructure bank modeled on the "American System" of Alexander Hamilton, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt would help solve two of the country's biggest problems. Millions of Americans have joined the ranks of the unemployed, and government relief checks and savings are running out; meanwhile, the country still needs trillions of dollars …

teleSUR (2020-12-25). Russia Pledges to Invest $200 Billion to Reduce Poverty. telesurenglish.net The Russian government is planning to spend a total of 15.3 trillion rubles (nearly $207 billion) over the next five years to reduce poverty and improve citizens' incomes, the country's Accounts Chamber reported this Thursday. | The document indicates that the measures will be implemented through national and federal projects as well as state programs, and intend to help reduce the number of Russians with incomes below the subsistence level. | According to figures provided by economic analysts, poverty levels could be reduced by 2.32 percentage points, while real disposable incomes would increase by 1.04 perce…

Michael Albert (2020-12-25). Participatory Economics 101 | Pt. 2. zcomm.org 'What do you want?' is a constant query put to economic and globalization activists decrying current poverty, alienation, and degradation…

2020-12-28: News Headlines

Toby Freeman, Fran Baum (2020-12-28). In the Fight Against Poor Health, the USA Is Punching Well Below Its Weight. commondreams.org By focusing more on battling inequality, new research shows, the United States could significantly improve American life expectancy. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/healthcare_inequality_1.jpg

RT (2020-12-27). HUNDREDS of Brits 'vanish' from Swiss ski resort after being ordered into quarantine amid new Covid-19 strain scare. rt.com Authorities in the Swiss canton of Valais have been left perplexed as hundreds of UK tourists vanished into thin air after the Swiss government ordered them into 10-day quarantine amid concerns over a new Covid-19 strain. | Verbier, a Swiss ski resort extremely popular among wealthy British tourists, has suddenly seen about half the Brits who came there to spend their Christmas holidays disappear without a trace. | The strange incident appears to be little but an act of defiance, though, as the Swiss authorities had earlier imposed a retroactive 10-day quarantine on all arrivals from the UK, backdated to inclu…

Richard Becker (2020-12-27). Colonialist injustice: The pardoning of the Blackwater killers. liberationnews.org Along with a motley collection of wealthy swindlers and fraudsters, President Donald Trump on Dec. 22 pardoned four former Blackwater private contractors (mercenaries) convicted in the infamous Sept. 16, 2007, Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad. Seventeen Iraqis were killed and 14 seriously wounded in an unprovoked attack by the four, who indiscriminately fired machine guns, …

Daniel Raventós, Julie Wark (2020-12-27). The European Citizens' Initiative for a Basic Income. counterpunch.org There are no precedents that can serve as a reference for Europe's economic and social situation right now. The 2020 European Commission indicators show a drop of 8.3% for GDP growth, while the OECD sets the figure at about 9% for the eurozone. The country-by-country forecasts showing considerable inequality within the EU are calamitous and,

Hugo Turner (2020-12-27). Guatemala: War and Revolution. globalresearch.ca The CIA coup to overthrow Jacobo Arbenz in 1954 would put the nation of Guatemala on the path to a nightmare future of poverty, war, and genocide. The United States would reshape Guatemala's intelligence military and police to fight a …

Chauncey DeVega (2020-12-27). Historian Anthony Harkins on the real story of white poverty and "Hillbilly Elegy" salon.com Editor of "Appalachian Reckoning" on why J.D. Vance's simplistic tale of uplift became a national phenomenon…

Igor Derysh (2020-12-27). 50-year study of tax cuts on wealthy shows they always fail to "trickle down" salon.com Tax cuts for the rich increase inequality and don't grow the economy or decrease unemployment, research shows…

news.un (2020-12-27). Young Champions of the Earth: trashing barriers to boost recycling in Kuwait. news.un.org An electrical engineer from Kuwait is being recognized by the United Nations for her success in raising the environmental importance and economic value of recycling in one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

Dean Baker (2020-12-26). The New York Times Hasn't Heard About China's Vaccines. cepr.net That is the implication of a major piece on how the coronavirus vaccines are leading to greater worldwide inequality, since the rich countries have reserved the vast majority of the 2021 supplies of vaccines of the leading U.S.-European vaccines. While this is in fact a serious problem, as my co-authors and I have noted, China …

David Skripac (2020-12-25). COVID-19: A Fabricated Second "Tidal Wave" of Poverty and Injustice. globalresearch.ca Here we are at the end of a year filled with upheaval, facing yet another round of lockdowns, this time ostensibly intended to fight off a supposed "second wave of COVID-19." | In the foreground, we have the completely co-opted mainstream …

Online News Editor (2020-12-25). Japan unemployment falls to 2.9 pct in November. laprensalatina.com Tokyo, Dec 25 (efe-epa).- The unemployment rate in Japan fell in November to 2.9 percent of the workforce, two tenths less than the level registered last October, according to data released Friday by the government. The 3.1 percent unemployment rate registered in October, linked to the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, was the highest …

Robert Reich (2020-12-25). How the Richest 1 Percent Came Out Big Winners in the Covid Relief Bill. commondreams.org Republicans didn't blink twice when they handed out $6.3 billion in tax breaks to their wealthy corporate backers, but when it came to getting direct relief to struggling Americans $600 was the best they could do. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/mcconnell.png

teleSUR (2020-12-25). Russia Pledges to Invest $200 Billion to Reduce Poverty. telesurenglish.net The Russian government is planning to spend a total of 15.3 trillion rubles (nearly $207 billion) over the next five years to reduce poverty and improve citizens' incomes, the country's Accounts Chamber reported this Thursday. | The document indicates that the measures will be implemented through national and federal projects as well as state programs, and intend to help reduce the number of Russians with incomes below the subsistence level. | According to figures provided by economic analysts, poverty levels could be reduced by 2.32 percentage points, while real disposable incomes would increase by 1.04 perce…

Ellen Brown (2020-12-25). Tackling the Infrastructure and Unemployment Crises: The "American System" Solution. dissidentvoice.org A self-funding national infrastructure bank modeled on the "American System" of Alexander Hamilton, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt would help solve two of the country's biggest problems. Millions of Americans have joined the ranks of the unemployed, and government relief checks and savings are running out; meanwhile, the country still needs trillions of dollars …

Michael Albert (2020-12-25). Participatory Economics 101 | Pt. 2. zcomm.org 'What do you want?' is a constant query put to economic and globalization activists decrying current poverty, alienation, and degradation…

Sarah Anderson (2020-12-24). Why Can't CEO's Pay for Their Own Lunch? counterpunch.org While the world is reeling from the pandemic, corporate lobbyists have been focused on making taxpayers subsidize lavish lunches for wealthy executives. And their work has paid off in the new Covid relief deal. Buried in the details of this modest aid plan is a provision to give executives unlimited tax deductions for their business