Global Research

What a post-COVID-19 world will look like will best be known in hindsight. Some clues:

The manufactured 2008-09 financial crisis enabled powerful interests to consolidate to greater size and influence.

It facilitated an enormous transfer of wealth from ordinary people in the US and other Western nations to privileged interests.

Force-fed austerity followed in these countries at a time when economic stimulus and putting money in the pockets of ordinary people were needed.

Was the decade-ago financial crisis a prelude for what’s now unfolding?

Was it relatively minor in harm to ordinary people compared to today’s dual public health/economic crisis and what lies ahead that won’t likely abate easily or soon?

Will it change the Western or entire world ahead? Henry Kissinger, aged-96, thinks so.

He headlined a Wall Street Journal op-ed: “The Coronavirus Pandemic Will Forever Alter the World Order,” saying:

“The US must protect its citizens from disease while starting the urgent work of planning for a new epoch.”

As national security advisor and secretary of state during the Nixon/Ford years, Kissinger’s criminality was and remains breathtaking.

Like other past and current members of the US imperial state, he remains unaccountable for a lengthy laundry list of high crimes too grievous to ignore.

Slowed at age-96, he’s still influential, advising Republicans Dems alike on geopolitical issues with new world order unfairness in mind.

He earlier and likely still advocates culling the world population of useless eaters, once saying:

“Depopulation should be the highest priority of US foreign policy towards the Third World.”

He called for making involuntary mass sterilizations and birth control a prerequisite for US aid to these countries, wanting hundreds of millions of people eliminated — including by withholding food aid to nations that don’t control their population growth.

In 1974, his classified National Security Study Memorandum (NSSM) 200 called for a global  depopulation “plan of action” to prevent unwanted people from using raw materials and other resources wanted for profit-making so get rid of them.

His scheme was similar to Nazi Germany’s aim to eliminate “inferior” people to preserve the “Aryan master race.”

The scheme is defined in the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Along with aggression, it’s the highest of high crimes.

Without public action to stop it, the type post-COVID-19 world Kissinger envisions will be more unsafe and unfit to live in than existing conditions today.

He defied reality saying the Trump regime “has done a solid job in avoiding immediate catastrophe” — ignoring its failure to prepare for a known danger to society that could happen anytime and did this year.

Nor has his regime provided health-related and financial aid to states, local communities, and the US public nationwide in amounts needed — largely leaving them on their own to cope at a time of unprecedented national crisis.

Like earlier public health crises, this one will pass. Of greatest concern is likely “political and economic upheaval” to be left in the wake of what’s now ongoing.

Governments and monied interests are self-serving at the expense of the general welfare.

There’s great risk ahead that ordinary people in the West will lose fundamental human, civil, and social rights on the phony pretext of protecting and preserving national security — along with stiffer neoliberalism to continue transferring enormous amounts of wealth to privileged interests.

Kissinger’s “liberal world order” is the problem to be overcome, not the solution to what’s going on.

“The world’s democracies (and) their enlightenment values” he cites don’t exist.

The world order he envisions ahead should terrify everyone everywhere.

He favors ruler/serf societies with US-dominated NATO enforcing things, endless wars, controlling the public mind, silencing dissent, and eliminating nonbelievers.

His ideal world for privileged interests is dystopian hell for the vast majority of ordinary people everywhere.

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Award-winning author Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)

His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

The concept of an economic system that puts Profit over People has been explained and discussed many times and in many ways. It just took a tiny virus (COVID-19) to display the contradiction between People and Profit as an urgent national question. In this equation, President Trump, as the voice of most powerful capitalist country on earth (the “GREAT AMERICA”) with his cheerleaders mostly at Fox News and in favor of PROFIT, suggests that “We have to get back to work” as soon as possible. Contrary to this idea, the scientists, medical community and people who are actually in the battlefield fighting this disease are representing the PEOPLE in this equation. Based on the ongoing and rapid escalation in the number of the infected and dead, they believe that the nation is not ready to go back to work.

Of course, those who serve the nation with their skill and hard work and genuine sincerity want to do their share and be productive members of society in these challenging times. Many small businesses in creative ways are helping their communities not for their own profit but as fellow human beings. From farmworkers to workers in food, transportation, social service industries and of course our professionals have been tirelessly working since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. However, the majority of these workers are not supported by their employers; such as sanitation workers whose basic demand to be equipped with the necessary protective gear has not been brought forward. In fact, the commercial media in these crucial times are censoring the news regarding Amazon and Whole Foods workers, who have been on strike, demanding a safe and protected work environment. These workers are risking their lives every day and just like medical staff without Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) can become contaminated as well.

The question is not simply “get back to work”. The question is during this public health catastrophe, what type of work is needed and how do we implement measures that guarantee the safety of all workers. We need to adjust and convert the lines of production in order to fulfill the vital needs of the people. During this deadly pandemic, do workers need to “get back to work” and build luxury vehicles or with innovating engineering start producing lifesaving types of equipment such as ventilators? Of course, the answer is clear in reality. The “Great America” is suffering from a chaotic organizational syndrome. Not only was the government not quick to convert a section of its workforce to build ventilators; but it also produced an atmosphere whereby States need to compete against each other over ventilators. The insanity is in the DNA of the capitalist economic system. In a press conference, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (image on the right) shook the nation by informing us that “the price of ventilators had skyrocketed from $25,000 each to $45,000, as 50 states and the federal government all bid against each other for the vital oxygen device.” He truthfully admits that “We’re literally bidding up the prices ourselves”!

It is imperative to understand that the lack of decisiveness to resolve any problem at hand without delay is not because of the pathetic personality of some officials. The slow response, negligence, and sloppiness are not Democratic or Republican deficiencies; it is the nature of a government that functions only by the principles of market and profit and not the essential needs of people. The current system is not prepared to deal with extreme natural disasters and their ramifications. By tossing paper towels to the crowd during his visit to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, President Trump not only showed his inability to empathize with the distressed people, but he also illustrated the incompetency of the U.S. government in the time of crisis. Today, the slow response to the COVID-19 virus pandemic by the Federal government follows the same pattern of “leadership” that we have already witnessed during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Although we are in a new and unprecedented situation, the conduct of the politicians to this crisis is the same. From the president down they easily justify the death of people in millions for their failed policies. The military intervention in Iraq which was based on the WMD hoax had killed thousands of young Americans overseas along millions of Iraqis who died in their own homeland. The unfortunate response of Secretary Madeleine Albright (a Democrat) to the indelible fact that because of the U.S. sanction, a half-million Iraqi children have died which is more than the children who died in Hiroshima; she calmly said, “We think the price is worth it.” Now we are in a different situation, this time the Americans are dying in their own homeland. President Trump at the end of March with the help of his Army Colonel Dr. Deborah Birx, is selling the projected death toll of 100,000 to 200,000 in the United States as “a good job” and the best-case scenario to the American people!

Indeed this is a global catastrophe and would resolve with transparent and unvarying cooperation between all nations on a global level.  As we hear the news about the tragic situations in Italy, Spain and Iran and now in the U.S.; we also hear encouraging news that this outbreak with the right plan can be relatively managed and contained as in China and South Korea. Cuba’s Interferon Alfa-2B drug* which is effective against coronavirus is hopeful news for the people around the world. It is reasonable to be optimistic in believing that the COVID-19 virus pandemic will be controlled, unfortunately, with a high number of fatalities than we would like to envision, we will defiantly have a post coronavirus era. Considering all of these, what will this new social, political and economical reality look like?

American people have already experienced Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump’s leadership for many years. Both, in many ways, have shown their allegiance to Wall Street and the market economy. It is impossible to envision that either of these detached politicians would introduce any progressive economic plan for the post coronavirus epoch. They have no solution on how to reverse a high unemployment rate which is predicted to surpassed the 24.9% unemployment in 1933, following the Great Depression. The broken Healthcare and outmoded education system will even deteriorate faster after COVID-19 virus is contained. The post COVID-19 virus epoch will create the best opportunity for the gigantic corporations to break apart their rivals in a fierce and merciless competition both nationally and globally. That means the maximum exploitation of both human (workforce) and vital natural resources. It is the powerless majority who suffer the most post crises. The capitalists will ask the masses who are fearful, broke and penniless to sacrifice more so the Free Market can prosper, after all, “We’re all in this together”! However, capitalists in any country are well aware of the possibility of social uprisings which have been the political ramification of post major crisis periods in history, such as the First and Second World Wars. Therefore capitalist states have a tendency to govern with the iron fist to prevent uprisings and revolutions.

In the time COVID-19 virus crisis, the President of the United States and the Ladies and Gentlemen of Congress like a generous caretaker unanimously decided to give a small portion of people’s tax money back to them. Of course, a large portion of this financial aid has been allocated to bail out their own friends in corporations! This crisis especially gives Democrats an opportunity to play their pretentious “solidarity show” with the workers of America with empty promises! Already House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to move quickly to the Phase Four of coronavirus relief plan; while those who are struggling to feed their families are still looking for Phase one to arrive! Of course among the Democrats, the “Socialist” Presidential candidate, Mr. Sanders has introduced his own “Coronavirus Emergency Plan”. Instead of exposing the ominous nature of the capitalist system which is on national display, Mr. Sanders proudly promotes himself as the true savior of the system and encourages the American workers to “Stand Up” and REFORM this outmoded system! However, the coronavirus crisis has ended any illusion that a system that strives for the highest stage in the centralization of capital is not reformable – never has been and never will be.

The ambiguity and application of “stimulus package” for the workers look more like a trap to pacify the workforce. A worker in the U.S. is giving false hope and perspective that a check of $1000 or more will be sufficient enough until they come back to work! However, those workers who have been furloughed or laid off know very well that the weakened economy and high rate of unemployment of a post coronavirus period will make finding a job extremely difficult.

So what is the alternative solution to this insane capitalistic behavior in a time the nation is desperately gasping for oxygen to fight against COVID-19 virus? The answer is a PLANNED ECONOMY.

PLANNED ECONOMY? That is “SOCIALISM” cries the Free Market economist. Certainly, President Trump and his administration would not even entertain the idea and it would be blasphemy in the minds of the Christian Evangelists. However a PLANNED ECONOMY simply means a common sense economy – an economy that puts People above Profit. This perspective makes the system of production that is based on competition -the main characteristics of the “free market”- irrational and obsolete. Today the authorities in the government under the pressure of dire social and economical circumstances are forced to practice a version of a planned economy in disarray. They say the “essential” workforce must operate.  But even the “essential” workforce is not defined as the current “leadership” is scattered, disconnected and above all is antagonistic.

The “Defense Production Act” is a federal law that gives the President the authority to direct private companies to meet the needs of the country. This capitalist plan, however, was meant to be for military equipment for the war against a “visible” enemy! Hence, President Trump, the self-proclaimed “wartime president” who is fighting the COVID-19 virus, the “invisible” enemy is reluctant to direct the companies to produce much-needed ventilators and Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), which are life-saving necessities for all medical staff and their patients confined to the battlefields of any given hospitals during this deadly pandemic. He surrounds himself at his daily Press Conference, with a handful of CEOs of essential and non- essential firms (like the “My Pillow” man) to come up to the podium, one by one and praise his “leadership” without any meaningful commitment. Mr. Trump grossly exaggerated the number of existing ventilators and PPE and quickly accuses the hospital staff of “back door” operation as a reason for the shortages.  Now that he is pleased with his “leadership” in the fight against coronavirus, he brings his military men to announce that his Administration is deploying more U.S. Navy warships to prevent “corrupt actors” (Venezuela) to smuggle narcotics and at the same time warns Iran, do not exploit the crisis coronavirus pandemic. More and more, the Trump administration finds a military solution as a real outlook to fight this disaster and impending social crisis; which historically has been the option for the capitalist countries facing a profound and deep crisis.

In Germany, Hitler introduced a new plan for the economy that simply was a program for the centralization of the economy in Germany. In reality, this capitalist program needed police supervision to be enforced! Hence Hitler appointed Hermann Göring – the founder of Gestapo (secret police of Nazi Germany) – to oversee this novel “centralized economy”!

Is the United States of America moving toward a controlled capitalist mode of production? Certainly, with any great crisis, the social and political contradictions that have been accumulated and suppressed for decades suddenly come to the forefront with great intensity. The coronavirus crisis has exposed the weakness of the United States as an incompetent government to manage peoples’ problems in a rational and effective manner in a time of disaster, while remains as the most powerful and dangerous military force with the huge nuclear and lethal arsenals in the world.

The working people in the U.S. with their international heritage and also their own struggles have sufficient knowledge to organize and offer practical solutions pertaining to a particular crisis. For example, today the GM workers with the help of their engineers and experts are able to produce ventilators as well as masks in a relatively short time while keeping their workplace protected against coronavirus. That simple conversion in production is applicable to all other factories around the country.  Workers who become the main decision-makers in their workplace and are in charge of production, in coordination with the other branches of industries, can easily convert the production lines to respond and fulfill the vital needs of the nation. In other words, the production will be logically planned according to the need of the majority of people and not for the purpose of making profits for a few wealthy people. When the decisions are made in the boardrooms of the gigantic manufacturers and corporations such as General Motors, the production lines must follow the demand of the irrational competitive market even if it results in overproduction. However, under the pressure of exceptional circumstances like today’s coronavirus crisis, it is possible for the executive officers of a large company like GM to compromise and produce items that are vital and in-demand like mask and ventilators; but certainly, that would be a temporary and limited effort mainly to leave a good corporate image as a marketing objective.

The profit-driven economy, limits the potential of production. On the contrary, since the purpose of production in a planned economy is to guarantee a decent living for all, naturally is unconstrained hence more efficient in utilizing the new useful and safe technology, faster and better with the least expenditure.

Certainly, the planned economy is not flawless. There will be errors during each cycle, but through a democratic process, corrections and improvements will be made. Capitalist economists by referring to the Soviet Union and Venezuela as a failed socialized economy reject the idea of the planned economy; but the disastrous Stalinist command economy and the current capitalist economy in Venezuela have nothing to do with the idea of a democratic, transparent and cooperative planned economy. In fact, the astonishing achievements of the Russian workers in a backward capitalist country, who survived the first global capitalist crisis and also the vicious attack by all major military powers right after the 1917 Russian Revolution and before the consolidation of the Stalinist bureaucracy, is a great source of information and aspiration for the American workers today which must be discussed. In the case of Venezuela, the resilience of the Venezuelan people as a sovereign nation is the main source of the U.S. government’s hatred toward the country, not their economic system.

Here in the United States, for any honest person who is suffering to a different degree because of coronavirus crisis, the idea of nationalization of the health care system, pharmaceutical, and all other vital service industries sounds logical and necessary. What is a private hospital good for if their business administrators only think of making more profit from each bed during this crisis? At this crucial time, common sense suggests that all hospitals should be rescued from the insane profit-driven market to serve the infected patients with the best available doctors, nurses and medical equipment, free of charge! It is time to stop the profiteers from turning our hospitals into fancy mortuaries.

The American working people have already shown that their patience is wearing thin. Slowly their voices and demands are reaching the main media. There is no doubt that capitalists in the U.S. and around the world are failing to combat the COVID-19 effectively. In order to end this miserable and chaotic situation in short order, working people collectively have to introduce their own economic plan – that is a planned economy. The coronavirus crisis has forced the workers around the world to either take the lead or let the insane “leaders” destroy humanity and nature like barbarians in fancy clothes. The actual producers and creators must form their own independent revolutionary party and organization at their workplace and in unity with the workers and professionals around the world end the destructive capitalist system which has nothing to offer except deadly diseases, extreme poverty, hunger and homelessness, environmental disasters, creating hell on earth for the millions upon millions of immigrants and refugees and their children and never-ending destructive wars. Time is ripe for a radical change!

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Massoud Nayeri is a graphic designer and an independent peace activist based in the United States. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from the author

The global COVID-19 viral pandemic has exposed in the sharpest light the contradiction between a globalized world economy and a still existing but archaic capitalist system based on the private expropriation of wealth and resources.

The relentless drive to reap a profit from every type of human interaction now stands exposed as the greatest danger to the people of the whole planet.

At the same time, China is sending enormous amounts of assistance to countries desperate for medical and personal protective equipment. These massive solidarity shipments demonstrate the superiority of China’s basic socialist planning.

China is sending by air, rail and sea needed medical equipment to 89 countries around the world. This includes test kits, facemasks, protective clothing, goggles, forehead thermometers and ventilators.

Chinese medical workers and planeloads of essential supplies have already been sent to 28 countries in Asia, 26 in Africa, 16 in Europe, 10 in the South Pacific and nine in the Americas. This assistance is China’s most intensive and wide-ranging emergency humanitarian operation since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949. (China Daily, March 26)

22 airlifts of medical supplies from China

By contrast the United States, still the largest and richest economy in the world, is overwhelmed by a complete lack of planning and even the capacity to mobilize the population for their own survival. Reported COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. now exceed those in China, even though China has almost four times the population and was the first country hit with this new disease. (worldometers.info/coronavirus, April 2)

U.S. for-profit health corporations and government agencies at every level are now turning to China to order essential supplies. This follows two months of racist ridicule, political attacks and rejecting offers of assistance from both China and the World Health Organization.

Totally frustrated with the inability of any arm of the U.S. government to solve these essential supply problems, governors, mayors, charitable organizations, nonprofit and sister-city groups, and major health complexes have each started making their own trade deals with Chinese corporations to get emergency shipments of supplies.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency stepped in and ordered 22 airlifts of supplies from China — but set up their distribution through profit-taking private sector networks. On March 29, a commercial aircraft carrying 80 tons of medical supplies arrived in New York from China. It delivered 130,000 N95 masks, 1.8 million facemasks and gowns, 10 million gloves and thousands of thermometers for distribution in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Similar flights to Chicago and Cleveland were planned for the next two days. (New York Times, March 29)

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the state, which is now the epicenter for the coronavirus, is in urgent need of 40,000 ventilators. Unfortunately, ventilators were unavailable. European corporations had already bought up the entire inventory of the largest Chinese ventilator producer.

European Union also overwhelmed

The coronavirus has overwhelmed not only the United States, the center of international finance capital. Other highly developed imperialist countries, including Italy, Spain, Germany, France and Britain, are staggering under its impact.

They were also unable to respond effectively. In order to revive their capitalist corporations and banks after the 2008 global capitalist crash, the European Union had imposed years of austerity and cutbacks in social programs on member countries. after the 2008 global capitalist crash. Now the EU is refusing to share assistance, even with its member countries. with its countries.

None of these imperialist countries is offering anything to the rest of the world as this extreme medical crisis spreads to over 190 countries.

Less than an hour of Pentagon spending

With great fanfare, the U.S. government pledged $62 million from the Agency for International Development to address the pandemic. This is less than what the Pentagon spends in an hour. The enormous $746 billion Pentagon budget — much of which is a subsidy to oil and military corporations — consumes roughly $2 billion a day or $80 million an hour.

While offering no real assistance to any country, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blasted China and the countries that accept China’s aid, claiming: “The Chinese Communist Party poses a substantial threat to our health and way of life, as the Wuhan virus clearly has demonstrated.” (Los Angeles Times, March 29) The Trump administration has also used the hardships of this global crisis to tighten sanctions and increase threats on Iran and Venezuela.

China’s ‘Health Silk Road’

The coronavirus is arriving in many countries that have already suffered humanitarian crises caused by U.S. wars and sanctions, as well as natural disasters and climate change. So China is setting up what it calls a Health Silk Road. Skilled Chinese medical teams have begun arriving in a growing number of countries, including Iran, Iraq, Italy, Serbia, Venezuela, Pakistan and Cambodia.

On March 11, as the COVID-19 virus abated in China, immediate assistance was also promised to countries in Africa. Equipment alone cannot overcome the health crises in countries lacking a national health care system. However, the 20,000 test kits, 100,000 masks, 1,000 protective suits to be delivered to each African country will have a big impact.

On March 22, a Chinese medical team arrived in Serbia with its first shipment of 16 tons. The European Union had denied any assistance to Serbia, citing U.S.-imposed sanctions.

On March 27, 130 tons of protective gear from China bound for Italy were unloaded in Vienna.

The China-Europe Express, a train line opened more than a decade ago, links 48 Chinese cities with Europe. On March 28 the first freight train to leave China after two months of lockdown departed from Wuhan. Its 19 cars were loaded with locally manufactured medical supplies.

Wuhan had been China’s hardest-hit city by the COVID-19 virus. Now it has a great deal of expertise and newly manufactured medical equipment to offer the world. Reuters reports that a shipment of a million masks and gloves from China arrived in France on March 22.

China develops diagnostic and treatment plans

China’s National Health Commission has compiled an invaluable set of diagnostic and treatment plans. It is sharing them, as well as other technical documents, with 180 countries and more than 10 international and regional organizations.

The commission has also conducted in-depth exchanges with the international community, holding about 30 video conferences on technical issues regarding the coronavirus with more than 100 countries and regions.

One such video conference with the World Health Organization, held on March 12, shared China’s experiences with representatives from 77 countries and seven international organizations. It was viewed online by more than 100,000 people.

Profit system creates disaster

In this global economy, why have offers of essential testing equipment and medical supplies from China, and even from the World Health Organization, been rejected by the Trump administration?

It’s not only because of growing U.S. hostility to China’s stunning level of development. Nor is it driven only by right-wing ideologues.

Medical care exists for profit. Free or inexpensive test kits and medical supplies threaten the capitalist drive to profit out of every human transaction. Pharmaceutical, medical and insurance companies are the most profitable corporations in the U.S. today. Along with oil and so-called defense corporations, they dominate finance capital.

During the crucial two months when these vital supplies could have been quickly ordered or manufactured and stockpiled, there was not yet a strong enough profit incentive to produce them. Medical facilities in the U.S. operate on a lean ship-to-order basis.

The unplanned and competitive nature of capitalist production distorts all social interaction. Wild speculation and bubbles of quick profit are the norm.

As the crisis became obvious to millions, anything assumed to be in possible short supply was immediately hoarded for speculation. This has led to life-threatening shortages of hand sanitizers, facemasks, essential foods and even toilet paper.

Who will pay and who will profit is the fundamental question in all capitalist relations. What is most needed — to fulfill people’s needs — is not part of the calculation.

As early as January, the Trump administration’s own medical experts identified a probable shortage of ventilators as a critical problem. Yet “both the White House and the Federal Emergency Management Agency struggled to define what was needed, who would pay for it and how to solve the problem of supply chains.” (“Alliance with industry does Trump no good in quest for ventilators,” New York Times, March 20)

Knowing that nothing was actually happening to solve any of these problems, Trump continued to make assurances: “We are going to have plenty.”

Many media reports have confirmed that the lack of testing kits arose from the manufacturers’ insistence on exclusive contracts with guaranteed profits. Follow-through and distribution plans were also totally lacking. Even how to keep a count of test results was not worked out in advance.

No planning for the population’s needs, along with chaotic planning for what is profitable, has created a crisis in every hospital in the U.S. Private and public hospitals, competing city, state and federal agencies, local and national charities are now in bidding wars for existing supplies.

Socialist planning is the answer

How was China able to control the virus? How is it now able to begin providing massive assistance to other countries on a global scale?

Clearly, socialist planning and large-scale collective ownership of major industries, including the medical industry, have been decisive.

Even in small developing countries, socialist planning frees up the economy to meet domestic need and even make major contributions to other countries trapped by U.S. economic domination and archaic social relations.

Look at Cuba. A country of only 11 million people, it sends more doctors to developing countries than does the World Health Organization. Cuba has also developed and freely shared with the world a medication that aids in treating those who test positive for COVID-19: Interferon Alfa-2B.

Up to now the U.S. government has not only barred the use of medications from Cuba, it has actually threatened countries that accept them. But as the death toll mounts in the U.S., demands for treatments and medical equipment may force changes in seemingly set-in-stone policies.

China has struggled to overcome past underdevelopment by balancing different forms of central planning, local collective ownership, capitalist incentives and shared ownership with Western corporations and banks. At the same time, the Communist Party has maintained broad political and economic control. It has guided national development plans and controlled what imperialist corporations can and cannot do in China.

China is still a developing country emerging from 200 years of colonial looting and underdevelopment. But it has maintained steady development since its 1949 Communist revolution overturned archaic property relations and imperialist domination. That revolution 70 years ago has made all the difference in this global pandemic.

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This article was originally published on Workers World.

Featured image: 130 tons of protected gear donated by China, unloaded in Austria, bound for Italy.

In a set of stable circumstances, funding higher education should be a matter of automatic persuasion.  If you want an educated populace, the tax payer should muck in. In some countries, however, this venture is uneven.  In the United Kingdom, the system remains divided, an echo of class stratification.  In Australia, which took so many of its behavioural and policy cues from ancestral Britain, investment in public education as a measure of Gross Domestic Product does not stack up well, in real terms, with other countries of the OECD.  Its school system is also something of a mild perversion – wealthy private schools receive millions as a windfall; state schools, short of equipment and facilities, starve and moulder.  

This state of affairs is highly unsatisfactory, but it is one made worse by the governance of tertiary institutions that remains, at heart, anti-democratic and oligarchical.  More to the point, they have lost their way, becoming beasts of private endeavour without enterprise; business driven without being entrepreneurial.  Poor, even disastrous investment decisions have been made, most notably the foray into the international student market.  This has often been done without a care about financial reserves or insurance that might cushion any precipitous fall in revenue.  Notwithstanding this, university politburos are putting out feelers for bailouts and financial assistance.  The begging bowl is doing the rounds.

In the United States, colleges have received a small slice – some $14bn of the multitrillion-dollar stimulus measure – to soften the blow caused by COVID-19. And some blow it has been, with LIU Post and Quinnipiac University laying off staff and the distinguished San Francisco Art Institute closing after a stint of 150 years.  Of that, $6bn is in the form of student aid; $7.5bn goes to the institutions.  The American Council on Education is none too pleased, claiming that the institutional portion is less than $8bn colleges and universities have spent in refunds and board charges.  Sector-wide losses are predicted to come in at $50bn.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is an exception, having taken steps to insure itself against a sharp drop in Chinese student revenue.  Moves were made in 2018 by the institution’s colleges of business and engineering to sign a three-year contract with an insurance broker to the value of $424,000, which would cover potential falls of revenue up to $60 million.  As Jeff Brown, dean of the Gies College of Business explained at the time, the insurance would be “triggered” by a fall of 20 per cent in Chinese student revenue in a single year.  “These triggers could be things like a visa restriction, a pandemic, a trade war – something like that that was outside our control.”    

The picture before those seeking relief is not a good one.  Combined with the characteristically shabby, ill-informed corporatism of the modern university, students in the higher education sector are receiving the attentions of an overworked and anxious teaching staff, many on sessional contracts, even as student fees feed the burgeoning managerial complex.  And international student fees, varying from twice to three times the domestic rate, have proven irresistible, leading to a seemingly endless number of appointments in management, marketing and public relations.  A logos-before-learning sentiment prevails.

In the United Kingdom, the question posed by the Financial Times over the weekend was whether universities are “too big to fail”.  Student numbers have galloped away, with University College London finding itself with twice as many it had a decade ago (38,000) and Manchester University still mighty with 39,000.  But this has not stopped the higher education sector’s call for a £7bn bailout.  This has come with the rich assumption that universities, as a matter of course, will receive such assistance, assumed as given by such international ratings agencies as Moody’s.  “It is not axiomatic,” retorts Baroness Cavendish, an adviser to the UK Department of Health and Social Care, “that UK taxpayers should now take on the financial risks of bridging what will be a shortlived hit to revenue – or without a quid pro quo.”

In 2018, the seasoned education specialist Sir Michael Barber, as head of the Office for Students, warned universities that they could not assume an automatic line of credit in the case of a financial crisis.  “The OfS will not bail out providers in a financial difficulty,” reasoned Barber during the Wonkfest higher education festival in London.  “This kind of thinking – not unlike the ‘too big to fail’ idea among the banks – will lead to poor-decision making and a lack of financial discipline, is inconsistent with the principle of university autonomy and is not in the students’ longer term interests.”  In two words: too late.

This makes calls for more funding, or a bailout package, as sharp as a double-edged sword.  Universities should receive generous funding from the public purse but there is also an expectation that such money be spent to advance the cause of education and the welfare of students, neither of which has featured much in the last decade.  The Australian Labor Party, in traditional fashion, has fallen for the magic of higher education in its ideal, rarefied form rather than actual, grounded practice.  That practice, which entails giving tax payer insurance to cover the outcomes of shoddy decision making, is ignored. 

For its part, the position of the Morrison government is best put by Senator James Paterson.  Admittedly, it supplies an incomplete picture, and a disingenuous one at that.  Nonetheless, it carries some weight.  Despite being warned about the China risk, universities, claimed Paterson, “rode the cycle up”.  It was time for them to ride it down.  

Inadvertently, the talk of protecting universities has started to resemble that of holding up financially imprudent banks.  Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek, for instance, has warned of “serious concerns that without federal government action some leading institutions could collapse.”  She proposes “low or no-cost loans to provide stability in coming months.”  She misses a beat on the issue of financial folly. “For years, universities have used income from international education to help fund their world-leading research.”  Such an equation is, if not false, then only a small part of it, ignoring the multi-million dollar amounts expended on non-research and teaching related operations, notably the spread-sheet devotees of management.

With such circumstances in mind, it would surely be fitting for the university in general to start a process of considered self-examination or, as novelist Arundhati Roy suggests with sharp clarity, take advantage of the coronavirus to “break with the past and reimagine their world anew.”  But what we find in certain marked instances is a hearty cri de coeur, a demand for financial padding that will tie things over.  Worst of all, it is a call for generous insurance without a promise of change and without condition.  Woe to the students, the sessional staff and the frontline academics. 

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Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge.  He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research and Asia-Pacific Research.  Email: [email protected]

According to internal documents, Monsanto and Germany’s BASF knew their products would destroy farms in the United States. The firms disregarded the risks even while they planned on how to profit off farmers who would buy Monsanto’s new seeds just to avoid the damages caused by their products.

The documents (some of them date back more than a decade) have been uncovered during a recent successful $265 million lawsuit brought against both firms by a Missouri farmer. The internal documents were seen and released by the Guardian. They also revealed how Monsanto opposed some third-party product testing, in order to curtail the generation of data that might have worried regulators. In some of the internal BASF emails, employees were even joking about sharing “voodoo science“ and hoping to stay “out of jail.”

“The documents are the worst that I’ve ever seen for any case that I’ve worked on,” said lawyer Angie Splittgerber, a former tobacco industry defense attorney who works with farmers who are suing Monsanto and BASF. “So many of them put things in writing that were just horrifying.”

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time Monsanto has been caught trying to hide the damages that are done with their products.

Records showed that at private meetings dating back to 2009, agricultural experts warned that the plan to develop a dicamba-tolerant system could have catastrophic consequences. Dicamba herbicide would normally kill crops such as soybean or cotton, but Monsanto altered the genes in these crops to create genetically modified varieties that are resistant to the herbicide. This meant that farmers can spray the weedkiller directly on those soybean or cotton plants to destroy weeds but leave the crops unharmed.

The experts told Monsanto that farmers were likely to spray old volatile versions of dicamba on the new dicamba-tolerant crops. They have warned that even new versions were still likely to be volatile enough to move away from the special cotton and soybean fields on to crops growing on other farms.

What is more important, under the system designed by Monsanto and BASF, only farmers buying Monsanto’s dicamba-tolerant cotton and soybean seeds would be protected from dicamba drift damage. –RT

According to a report prepared for Monsanto back in 2009 as part of industry consultation, such an “off-target movement“ was expected. The company also expected things such as massive “crop loss”, “lawsuits” and “negative press around pesticides.” Monsanto’s own projections estimated that dicamba damage claims from farmers would total more than 10,000 cases, including 1,305 in 2016, 2,765 in 2017 and 3,259 in 2018.

Both Monsanto and BASF defended their products, claiming dicamba is safe “when used correctly,” and marketed it as an important tool for farmers. Industry estimates suggest that several million acres of crops have now been reported damaged by dicamba. More than 100 US farmers are engaged in litigation in federal court alleging Monsanto and BASF collaboration created a “defective” crop system that has damaged orchards, gardens and organic and non-organic farm fields in multiple states.

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A novelist living in quarantine in Florence looks back at Italy’s cultural history and then forward, considering whether something positive might rise from the ruins that the virus will leave in its wake.

Last week I ventured out of my flat in Florence, armed with my auto-certificazione, the document you must possess in order to justify leaving your residence at any time in locked down Italy. As I cycled, trying to snatch a few minutes of permitted daily exercise, I veered for the Piazza del Duomo. I glanced around nervously, on the lookout for any abnormalities, policemen, anxious to avoid any official entanglements or questions. My exodus was marked by the electric flutter of adrenaline. As I gingerly reached the geometrically intricate miracle of Brunelleschi’s dome, I realized that I shared the square only with a military vehicle and some soldiers; no other civilian could be seen. It was disquieting. Did I mention the silence? It was cosmically still, as if I had just alighted on an alien planet that housed a carbon copy of Florence, but utterly bereft of sound and people. Just now the real Florentine sun is starting to ripen and ferment, settling into its springtime incarnation, and as it touched the upper levels of the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral and the gargantuan dome that sits atop it, a dazzling, magical clarity resulted. But there was no one to share the moment with. I was alone.

Solitude. This is the inalienable fact of the Italian lockdown. We are all alone suddenly. Ordinary men and women alone in their homes, critically ill patients alone in hospitals (for those who are battling the Covid-19 virus are strictly isolated because of the risk of infection; not even relatives or parents are allowed to remain with them), and those shoppers who must remain at a meter’s distance from one another when they go out for essentials like food and medicine. The only places that remain open in Italy are pharmacies, supermarkets, bakeries, tobacconists, and newspaper kiosks. One of the cruelest privations in terms of everyday social interaction for the Italians—and for me, for that matter—is the loss of the ritual of the espresso, taken at the bar. The very few souls one sees outside are more often than not masked, wary, jittery. I was chastised by one man for walking too close to someone else the other day on a street that was otherwise deserted, like every other street in Florence. At a bakery, a member of staff insisted that I step back from the counter. When I did as she asked she insisted I step back further. To have stepped back any further would have required the demolition of the wall.

For Italians, who are so gregarious, so physically demonstrative, so loquacious, able to throw a party anywhere, even on a street corner, it is a cruel, surreal plight that they suddenly find themselves in. And the city’s ethereal beauty now feels almost sterile without the complementary babble of human emotions and voices that it ordinarily generates. Florence has become like a colossal movie set, after having been abandoned when the production money didn’t come through, an open-air theater for no one. While it is true that its almost metaphysical beauty and purity can now perhaps be apprehended the more clearly, the absence of humanity is elegiac. Perhaps we realize that beauty is inevitably diminished when it is glimpsed in isolation from others.

It is difficult now to imagine that only two weeks ago the city was so different, filled with tourists, all galleries and cinemas and bars and restaurants open, sounds of traffic, street life, singing filling the air. But it’s not just Florence, it’s the whole of Italy. At first it was only the northern region of Lombardy that was placed under quarantine, and in Tuscany we felt some pangs of guilt about that region’s restricted life. Then on March 9 the prime minster, Giuseppe Conte, ordered that the whole of Italy be placed under a lockdown after thousands of Italians fled from the north to Puglia and Calabria. They wanted to reunite with their families, stirred to panic-filled action after there was a leak about the projected quarantine in Lombardy from the League, the opposition party. Conte’s decision was the only real option available to him, for people had now grasped that the most serious thing about the coronavirus is its terrifying level of contagiousness. The next day, Conte ordered the lockdown to go into a higher gear—restaurants and bars that were allowed to stay open until 6pm the previous day were now ordered to shutter completely. Tourists were ordered to leave, hotels and Airbnb’s emptied instantly.

By then the Italian government had already been accused of having messed up, shutting the door after the horse had bolted. It is true that a national alarm had been sounded in January when the virus was first detected to have traveled from Wuhan to Italy. Perhaps a quarantine could have been instigated earlier. In his defense, Conte has displayed exemplary transparency in terms of the communication of his intentions, not electing to disappear whenever the going got too tough. He has proved to be more of an old-fashioned statesman than his counterparts in Europe and America: the UK, for example, is a hothouse of rumors and ambiguity, as Downing Street invites selective journalists to relay its incoherent messages. Similarly, the Italian medical sector—one of the finest in the world, and free to all—has been admirably professional and composed, despite the staggeringly difficult circumstances in which it is now having to function. Bergamo’s deaths are happening now so quickly that the cemeteries and crematoria simply can’t keep up, and the military has been called in to intervene and help.

The post office always used to be a bit of a gossip center where people stopped and chatted, and business was conducted at a leisurely pace.

On the whole, by all accounts, the Italians’ sense of civic duty has been good. Italians were never a populace fueled by a strong sense of social awareness; they were noted for their defiance, their contempt for authority and rules, but now they seem to be united by a common respect for one another and a gentle persistence and determination to do the right thing, to be considerate of others. I went to my local post office a few days ago, which is still functional but now ruled by a new protocol: one must wait outside in an orderly fashion, observing the one-meter social-distancing rule, and then only go inside when another customer comes out. The post office always used to be a bit of a gossip center where people stopped and chatted, and business was conducted at a leisurely pace: now everything has become Calvinistic and severe. But it’s an admirable method; to be overtly emotional now would be disastrous.

Similarly, the staff at supermarkets, the pharmacists, the medical personnel that I have spoken to: they all give off an air of stoicism and resilience. When I took the time to sincerely thank one of the exhausted supermarket staff for his unfailing efforts to meet the needs of his customers, he just brushed off my gratitude modestly. And no one has been panic-buying, at least not in Florence: once Italians were reassured that the supply of food would be constant, they could relax. I spoke to a freelancer in film production based in Rome, and he told me that the Romans have been obeying the rules and keeping their distance. He didn’t think that there was a risk of eventual anarchy breaking out, since Italians are serene by nature, unlike the more volatile Anglo-Saxons. Others I spoke to, such as a language teacher and translator, based in Lucca, found herself missing terribly the screams of her students, camaraderie with colleagues, and the colorful mess of school life.

An interesting quasi-paradox about pre-lockdown Italy is that while bureaucracy was always labyrinthine, glacial, and elaborate—when paying in cash to an Italian bank account, for example, you had to produce your medical card with your tax code and your identity card—everyday life was structured around the concept of improvisation and the idea of making it up as you go along. Now, in lockdown, Italy improvisation’s spark has been snuffed out. But a sense of social responsibility has hesitantly slipped into the space improvisation once occupied.

by Pierpaolo Florio

And yet Italians are extremely resilient people; they are fighters and are famously inventive. Italian painting and literature is glorious. Italy gave the world—arguably—its single greatest feat of architecture (Brunelleschi’s dome), a cosmically equilibrated vision of the afterlife (Dante’s Commedia), exquisite opera (Puccini, Verdi, Rossini), lofty novelists (Lampedusa, Pavese, Calvino), ahead-of-their-time intellectuals (Pasolini), genius filmmakers (Fellini, Visconti), and modernist creators of conundrums (Pirandello). They discovered that the earth was not at the center of the universe (Galileo). They created art so grand that it rivals the splendors of nature (Michelangelo). Contemporary doctors and dentists are among the finest in the world; today Carlo Rovelli is one of the world’s most preeminent physicists. Their artisans and electricians, their plumbers and engineers, their architects and chefs are creative in a way that is instinctive: Italians locate problems and devise solutions to them. They are resilient, and they have history’s wisdom and survival code stamped into their DNA, so I sometimes allow myself to feel tentatively optimistic about Italy’s future and its contortionistic ability to prevail and surmount obstacles and rise above them. Boccaccio’s The Decameron, an absurdly fertile feat of perpetual storytelling, was the product of defiance—defying the plague by telling stories that took place within or outside its orbit. Manzoni’s The Betrothed is another celebrated work that touches on the idea of contagion and disease, evoking Milan’s plague of 1630.

Beyond the obvious claustrophobic nature of the quarantine and its curtailment of social contact, another kind of apprehension or fear sometimes comes spasmodically into focus. It is a fear about society’s fabric falling apart: a sense that, as Yeats puts it, the center cannot hold. It must also be this fear that is uppermost in the minds of people who do not live in the exquisite countryside of Tuscany or close by Florence’s centro storico’s ethereal grace. In Florence’s drab suburbs—Scandicci, Sesto Fiorentino, Campi Bisenzio—a lot of buildings that were constructed in the 1970s resemble dour Soviet tower blocks; the flats inside are often terribly cramped and have no balconies and only run to about fifty square meters. In such suffocating conditions, people’s nerves must be close to frayed. On March 10 the government unveiled a plan for deferred utility bills, wage subsidies, and suspended mortgage repayments for people during the quarantine. These subsidies have yet to materialize, however. Ironically, Italy has received more aid from China than from the EU, despite the latter’s publicly trumpeted promises to do what it takes to keep the country afloat. And on March 22 a medical team of doctors and nurses from Cuba was flown in to help the magnificent Italian nurses and doctors. It seems that Italy’s more immediate neighbors are less concerned about its plight than those from farther climes.

Maybe in some ways Florence has reverted to a kind of medieval severity, has slipped back into a version of what it might have actually once been, stripped as it now is of pleasure and tourism, commerce and lightness. It was here that the rediscovery of Greek texts led to the birth of a new humanism, which in turn ushered in the Renaissance, as facilitated by the wealth and patronage of the Medici family, and the Middle Ages came to an end. In some ways maybe the universal privation of the lockdown might serve to remind us that the little things count, that life shouldn’t always be about immediate gratification, a perpetual searching for pleasure and purchases. At the risk of sounding preachy, could our collective enforced monasticism offer people a chance to recalibrate, to become less shallow and image-obsessed as we seem to be, or at least as shallow as the cell phone culture at large seems to promote and encourage?

Some people I have spoken to—friends and colleagues on both sides of the Atlantic—feel that the Coronavirus pandemic may trigger some kind of existential and ethical change for the better. It is certainly true that it has forced us all to slow down, to spend time alone, to take stock and evaluate our lives, ourselves, our values, not just in Italy but, more and more, increasingly, all over the world. Those who are more naturally disposed toward meditation, introspection, spending time in their own company may be faring better than those who need to be constantly on the go, whose lives are caffeine whirls and frenetic power days. But maybe we should seize upon this pause button willingly, wake up, and connect with reality again on a more essential level. Could that pause button lead to a reboot? One hopes.

Clearly, things were and are getting out of hand on all levels—environmentally, politically, ethically. The fact that nature has already demonstrated spectacular powers of reinvention and auto-healing (I am thinking of the recent purified satellite images of Wuhan and Italy) is something that should leave us faintly awestruck, humbled, grateful. Last night I saw the stars in the night sky from my flat for the first time in my fifteen-odd years of living here. The canal waters of Venice are now transparent, and swans and dolphins have been sighted in the ports of Trieste and Cagliari after this period of radically decreased travel, economic activity, and human emissions. Is the planet trying to tell us something? Is this a chance to reclaim our humanity? It’s tempting to feel that something positive might rise from the ruins that the virus will leave in its wake.

I don’t wish to understate the enormity of the human tragedy that the virus has precipitated and the economic and social devastation it will wreak in society at large. And yet perhaps we can take solace in the fact that the planet has now, by an unforeseen and complex twist of fate—the gradual locking down of the world—been given a temporary reprieve from the toxicity we have been feeding it for time immemorial. Maybe that thought could help provide the light which sustains us in the darkness to come. In the meantime, Italy’s own flame remains diminished but not extinguished.

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Featured image is from Pierpaolo Florio

The world’s richest country USA is the only developed one without some form of universal healthcare.

Americans get marketplace medicine instead, an inequitable system for a fundamental human right. 

It prioritizes profits over human health, leaving growing millions in the US uninsured, most others way underinsured because of high cost — making healthcare in the US the way it should be for everyone unaffordable.

Should corporate insurers with bottom line priorities over all else decide what medical care they will or won’t pay for and how much?

Should millions of poor and low-income households be deprived of vital healthcare when most needed because it’s unaffordable?

Medical treatment decisions should be made by doctors and other qualified health professionals, not politicians, bureaucrats, or business.

High healthcare costs in the US, double the amount of other developed countries, is the leading cause of consumer bankruptcies.

According to the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) in March 2019, around two-thirds of household bankruptcies were  because of unaffordable healthcare or unpaid time away from work.

Because of high-cost/sharply rising premiums, deductibles and co-pays, healthcare insurance or enough of it for full coverage is unaffordable for most Americans.

The AJPH noted that Obamacare “did not change the proportion of bankruptcies with medical causes.”

Three years after its enactment, medical bankruptcies were slightly higher than earlier. Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) co-founder Dr. David Himmelstein explained why, saying:

“Unless you’re Jeff Bezos, people don’t have very good alternatives, because the insurance that is available and affordable to people, or that most people’s employers provide them, is not adequate protection if you’re sick.”

Most US households live from paycheck to paycheck with scant savings or none at all.

According to the Bankrate personal finance website in January 2019, only 40% of US households have enough savings to cover an unexpected $1,000 expense.

Most Americans are woefully unprepared for the ongoing health and economic crisis that may be the severest in US history before ending at an unknown future time.

The American Public Health Association explained that bankruptcy filers for medical reasons are in worse health and more likely to skip needed treatments and medications, greatly endangering them.

Spreading COVID-19, mass layoffs and unemployment in the US show why Medicare for all is an idea whose time has come with great urgency to enact into law now.

PNHP called for improved universal healthcare for all Americans — everyone in, no one left out, prioritizing public and personal health over profit-making by insurers, Big Pharma, and large hospital chains.

Its website states that “the only permanent solution is to enact a single-payer national health program that would:

• Cover all US residents for all medically necessary care;
• Totally eliminate out-of-pocket spending;
• Guarantee appropriate health resources in all communities based on medical need;
• Increase public health spending and invest in research to improve population health; and
• Maintain the capacity to respond to nationwide crises in a unified manner” like what’s occurring in real time now, adding:

“COVID-19 is just one dramatic example of our failure to care for vulnerable patients and marginalized populations.”

Hand-washing, social distancing, sheltering in place, and more draconian lockdowns to contain and eliminate COVID-19 outbreaks ignore core healthcare inequality and inadequacy of our time and earlier in the US — lack of healthcare for everyone in the country, a vital human right not addressed.

Food, shelter, clothing, and healthcare when needed are the most fundamental human rights of all.

In the US, they’re based on the ability to pay, why millions of people in the country live on the edge.

Millions are food insecure. Hundreds of thousands are homeless, and most Americans have no healthcare coverage or not enough.

PNHP co-founder Dr. Steffie Woolhander expressed frustration, saying “(t)he lack of Medicare for all is forcing (doctors and other healthcare professionals) to fight this (battle) with one hand tied behind our back.”

The medical community and society overall “have to conquer coronavirus altogether. That’s the whole idea behind Medicare for all.”

If not now at a time of a growing national emergency, when?

If the medical community and millions of ordinary Americans don’t demand it now, who will?

If that doesn’t express a sense of urgency for a vitally needed human right when most needed, what will?

A Final Comment

According to Government Accountability Office and Congressional Budget Office estimates, administrative/bureaucratic savings would free up enough funds to provide world-class healthcare for all Americans – without increasing total spending.

In January, PNHP explained that Medicare for all can save about $600 billion annually in the US by eliminating middlemen bureaucracy and paperwork that costs over one-third of what’s spent on healthcare — fivefold what Canada spends.

Dr. Himmelstein explained that “(t)he difference (in administrative costs) between Canada and the US  is enough to not only cover all the uninsured but also to eliminate all the copayments and deductibles, and to amp up home care for the elderly and disabled,” adding:

“And frankly…money (will) be left over.”

According to Public Citizen, the US healthcare industry “wants you to think universal healthcare is too expensive.”

“In reality, it’s our current system that’s a wasteful, unsustainable disaster.”

At a time when the vast majority of Americans are hunkered down at home and scared to death about COVID-19, Medicare for all is the only acceptable way to assure healthcare is provided for all Americans when needed.

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Award-winning author Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)

His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Did Congress just nationalize the Fed? No. But the door to that result has been cracked open.

Mainstream politicians have long insisted that Medicare for all, a universal basic income, student debt relief and a slew of other much-needed public programs are off the table because the federal government cannot afford them. But that was before Wall Street and the stock market were driven onto life-support by a virus. Congress has now suddenly discovered the magic money tree. It took only a few days for Congress to unanimously pass the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which will be doling out $2.2 trillion in crisis relief, most of it going to Corporate America with few strings attached. Beyond that, the Federal Reserve is making over $4 trillionavailable to banks, hedge funds and other financial entities of all stripes; it has dropped the fed funds rate (the rate at which banks borrow from each other) effectively to zero; and it has made $1.5 trillion available to the repo market.

It is also the Federal Reserve that will be picking up the tab for this bonanza, at least to start. The US central bank has opened the sluice gates to unlimited quantitative easing, buying Treasury securities and mortgage-backed securities “in the amounts needed to support smooth market functions.” Last month, the Fed bought $650 billion worth of federal securities. At that rate, notes Wall Street on Parade, it will own the entire Treasury market in about 22 months. As Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari acknowledged on 60 Minutes, “There is an infinite amount of cash at the Federal Reserve.”

In theory, quantitative easing is just a temporary measure, reversible by selling bonds back into the market when the economy gets back on its feet. But in practice, we have seen that QE is a one-way street. When central banks have tried to reverse it with “quantitative tightening,” economies have shrunk and stock markets have plunged. So the Fed is likely to just keep rolling over the bonds, which is what normally happens anyway with the federal debt. The debt is never actually paid off but is just rolled over from year to year. Only the interest must be paid, to the tune of $575 billion in 2019. The benefit of having the Fed rather than private bondholders hold the bonds is that the Fed rebates its profits to the Treasury after deducting its costs, making the loans virtually interest-free. Interest-free loans rolled over indefinitely are in effect free money. The Fed is “monetizing” the debt.

What will individuals, families, communities and state and local governments be getting out of this massive bailout? Not much. Qualifying individuals will get a very modest one-time payment of $1,200, and unemployment benefits have been extended for the next four months. For local governments, $150 billion has been allocated for crisis relief, and one of the Fed’s newly expanded Special Purpose Vehicles will buy municipal bonds. But there is no provision for reducing the interest rate on the bonds, which typically runs at 3 or 4 percent plus hefty bond dealer fees and foregone taxes on tax-free issues. Unlike the federal government, municipal governments will not be getting a rebate on the interest on their bonds.

The taxpayers have obviously been shortchanged in this deal. David Dayen calls it “a robbery in progress.” But there have been some promising developments that could be harnessed for the benefit of the people. The Fed has evidently abandoned its vaunted “independence” and is now working in partnership with the Treasury. In some sense, it has been nationalized. A true partnership, however, would make the printing press available for more than just buying toxic corporate assets. A central bank that was run as a public utility could fund programs designed to kickstart the economy, stimulate productivity and generally serve the public.

Harnessing the Central Bank

The reason the Fed is now working with the Treasury is that it needs the Treasury to help it bail out a financial industry burdened with an avalanche of dodgy assets that are fast losing value. The problem for the Fed is that it is only allowed to purchase or lend against securities with government guarantees, including Treasury securities, agency mortgage-backed securities, debt issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and (arguably) municipal securities. To get around that wrinkle, as Wolf Richter explains:

[T]he Treasury will create (or resuscitate) a series of special-purpose vehicles (SPVs) to buy all manner of financial assets, backed by $425 billion in collateral conveniently supplied by the US taxpayer via the Exchange Stabilization Fund. The Fed will lend to SPVs against this collateral which, when leveraged, could fund $4-5 trillion in asset purchases.

That includes municipal bonds, non-agency mortgages, corporate bonds, commercial paper, and every variety of asset-backed security. The only things the government can’t (transparently, yet) buy are publicly-traded stocks and high-yield bonds.

Unlike in QE, in which the Fed moves assets onto its own balance sheet, the Treasury will now be buying assets and backstopping loans through SPVs that the Treasury will own and control. SPVs are a form of shadow bank, which like all banks create moneyby “monetizing” debt or turning it into something that can be spent in the marketplace. The SPV decides what assets to buy and borrows from the central bank to do it. The central bank then passively creates the funds, which are used to purchase the assets backing the loan. As Jim Bianco wrote on Bloomberg:

In other words, the federal government is nationalizing large swaths of the financial markets. The Fed is providing the money to do it. BlackRock will be doing the trades. This scheme essentially merges the Fed and Treasury into one organization. …

In effect, the Fed is giving the Treasury access to its printing press. This means that, in the extreme, the administration would be free to use its control, not the Fed’s control, of these SPVs to instruct the Fed to print more money so it could buy securities and hand out loans in an effort to ramp financial markets higher going into the election.

Of the designated SPVs, none currently serves a public purpose beyond buoying the markets; but they could be designed for such purposes. The taxpayers are on the hook for replenishing the $425 billion in the Exchange Stabilization Fund, and they should be entitled to share in the benefits. Congress could designate a Special Purpose Vehicle to fund its infrastructure projects, and to fund those much-needed public services including Medicare for all, a universal basic income, student debt relief, and similar programs. It could also purchase a controlling interest in insolvent or profligate banks, pharmaceutical companies, oil companies and other offenders and regulate them in a way that serves the public interest.

Another possibility would be for Congress to fund these programs in the usual way by issuing government bonds, but to enter into a partnership agreement first by which the central bank would buy the bonds, roll them over indefinitely, and rebate the interest to the Treasury. That is how Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has funded his stimulus programs, with none of the predicted inflationary effects on consumer prices. In fact the Japanese consumer price index is hovering at a very low 0.4%, well below even the central bank’s 2 percent target, although the Bank of Japan has monetized nearly half of the government’s debt. Half of the US debt would be over $11 trillion. Assuming $6 trillion for the current corporate bailouts, that means another $5 trillion could safely be monetized for programs benefiting individuals, families and local governments. (How to do this without driving up consumer prices will be the subject of another article.)

Relief for State and Local Governments

State and local governments, which are on the front lines for delivering emergency services, have for the most part been left out of the bailout bonanza. While we are waiting for action from Congress, the Fed could make cheap loans available to local governments using its existing powers under Federal Reserve Act Sec. 14(2)(b), which authorizes the Fed to purchase the bills, bonds, and notes of state and local governments having maturities of six months or less. Since local governments must balance their budgets, these loans would have to be repaid, but the loans could be extended by rolling them over for a reasonable period, as is done with repo loans and the federal debt; and the loans could be made at the same near-zero interest rate banks can borrow at now. State and local governments are at least as creditworthy as banks – they have a taxpayer base and massive assets. In fact the private banking industry would have been insolvent long ago if it were not for the deep pocket of the central bank and the bailouts of the federal government, including the FDIC insurance scheme that rescued the banks from bankruptcy in the Great Depression.

There is a way state and local governments can take advantage of the near-zero interest rates available to banks even without federal action. They can set up their own publicly-owned banks. Besides giving them the ability to borrow much more cheaply, having their own banks would allow them to leverage their loan funds. A $100 million revolving fund issuing loans at 3% would gross the state $3 million per year. If that same $100 million were used to capitalize a bank, it could issue ten times that sum in loans, grossing $30 million per year. Costs would need to be deducted from those earnings, including the cost of funds; but the cost of funds is quite low for banks today. They can borrow to meet their liquidity needs from their own deposit pool, or at 0.25% in the fed funds market, or at about the same rate in the repo market, which is now backstopped by the central bank.

The blatant disparities in the congressional response to the current crisis have shone a bright light on how our financial system is rigged against the people in favor of a wealthy elite. Crisis is when change happens; this is the time for advocates to unite in demanding change on behalf of the people. As Greek economist Yanis Varoufakis admonished in a recent post:

[T]his new phase of the crisis is, at the very least, making it clear to us that anything goes – that everything is now possible.… Whether the epidemic helps deliver the good or the most evil society will depend … on whether progressives manage to band together. For if we do not, just like in 2008 we did not, the bankers, the spivs [petty criminals], the oligarchs and the neofascists will prove, again, that they are the ones who know how not to let a good crisis go to waste.

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This article was originally published on the author’s blog site, Web of Debt Blog.

Ellen Brown chairs the Public Banking Institute and has written thirteen books,including her latest, Banking on the People: Democratizing Money in the Digital Age. She also co-hosts a radio program on PRN.FM called “It’s Our Money.” Her 300+ blog articles are posted at EllenBrown.com.

The Afrin Liberation Forces carried out a series of attacks on Turkish-backed militants in northern Aleppo. According to the group, its fighters stormed positions of Turkish proxies near Omra killing three of them on March 26. On April 1, the group’s members blew up a vehicle of a field commander, Abu Khalid. The commander and his three bodyguards were killed, while the fourth one was injured. On the same day, Kurdish rebels detonated an IED at a headquarters of Turkish-backed forces in the al-Mahmudiyah neighborhood of Afrin city. The attack resulted in material losses only.

The Afrin Liberation Forces is a brand used by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) to distance themselves from regular attacks on the Turkish Army and Turkish-backed groups in northern Syria. They launch their attacks from the YPG-controlled area near the city of Aleppo and have a network of cells within the Turkish-occupied region of Afrin.

Turkish convoys with building blocks and engineering equipment were entering Syria through the Kafr Lusin border crossing on April 1 and April 2. Later, the equipment and building blocks then were delivered to the militant-held part of the M4 highway in southern Idlib. The Turkish military is reportedly planning to use them to set up a group of fortified checkpoints along the highway in order to solidify its presence there. In March, Turkish forces in the area became a target of two IED attacks by radical militants, and Ankara reasonably expects that such attacks could continue in April.

On April 2, two Syrian soldiers were killed and five others were injured in a Turkish artillery strike on a Syrian Army checkpoint near the town of Tell Tamr in the province of al-Hasakah. In 2019, the army established a number of positions in northeastern Syria following a breakthrough agreement with local Kurdish militias. Then, joint Syrian-Russian efforts allowed to limit the Turkish military operation against Kurdish forces and prevent a larger escalation. Nonetheless, sporadic firefights and artillery duels regularly erupt on the contact line between the Turkish Army and its proxies on the one hand and the  Syrian Army and Kurdish militias on the other hand.

Meanwhile, the US-led coalition reinforced its military base in the oil-rich area of Rmelan. The US base is located near one of the country’s largest oil fields. It can produce up to 90,000 barrels a day. Earlier, the US military deployed additional equipment and troops to its positions in the area of al-Shaddadi in southern al-Hasakah.

According to the Pentagon, about 500 US troops remain deployed in the oil-rich areas in the provinces of Deir Ezzor and al-Haskah. However, the scale of military activity in the region indicate that the real number of personnel involved is likely higher.

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It is seriously astounding how fast the economy is crumbling. No infusion of funny money will save the American people from the historically severe depression now evolving.

State and federal governments are becoming more authoritarian in response to serious influenza (critical data on the transmission of the disease is absent, muddled, contradictory, and the corporate media feeds a frenzy of fear and paranoia based on conflicting, revised, and often speculative numbers). 

Critical supply lines foolishly based on the globalist profit-maximizing concept of “just in time” are now breaking down. How long do you suppose unemployed service industry and gig-economy workers will tolerate a serious shortage of food and other essentials before looting stores like the poor and hungry of Palermo? How long before armed citizens begin taking what they need and the military is called in to restore order and confiscate weapons like they did during Katrina? All hell will break loose from Baltimore to Seattle and the government may impose martial law (it can be argued we are already under a soft form of martial-medical law, half of us confined to our homes, the equivalent of house arrest, scared to death of a virus they now say can spread by merely opening of one’s mouth and speaking and thus allowing viral-laden breath to drift in the air). 

I don’t believe the state will be able to meet the needs of a third or more of an unemployed workforce—angry, desperate, and eventually violent as a dystopian nightmare spreads across the land. Congress and Trump’s onetime $1,200 check will certainly not satisfy the unemployed for long—in many cases, that’s not even a month’s rent. Millions of Americans stood by and watched as the Federal Reserve dished out a trillion and a half bucks to the banks and the financial elite. 

Mark Twain said something about history rhyming. It looks like a big fat sonnet is about to unfold and knock us flat. Historians argue whether FDR did or did not secretly agree with Churchill to get the US involved in the war in Europe and thus put an end to a stubborn depression. It did—and the military-industrial machine returned prosperity to depression and war-weary Americans while building a sprawling national security structure behind the scenes to face an exaggerated enemy, a critically flawed Soviet Union and the virus of Lenin’s version of communism. 

While we are obsessed with life, death, and the coronavirus, the Trump administration is moving to re-ignite the war in Iraq, a war that has as its final objective the destruction of Iran. 

From the corporate propaganda media:

President Donald Trump warned Wednesday that Iran was planning a “sneak attack on U.S. troops and/or assets in Iraq” and later cited unspecified intelligence he said indicated potential plots by local Tehran-aligned forces there.

“Don’t do it,” the president warned at a press briefing that evening, threatening that his “response will be bigger” this time after U.S. airstrikes last month targeted Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah positions but also reportedly killed Iraqi troops, police officers and a civilian.

It was soon reported Trump ordered “Patriot surface-to-air missiles and a variant of the Navy’s SeaRAM and CIWS, or close-in weapon system, which fires 3,000 rounds a minute” be sent to Iraq to protect US bases. 

Lost in the latest reportage is the fact the rockets fired at US soldiers were a direct response to Trump’s Mafia hit on Iran’s Qassem Soleimani.

A second establishment propaganda mill reported: 

It was not immediately clear what intelligence Trump had obtained to prompt him to issue his tweet on Wednesday… [during a] subsequent press conference he indicated the US’s likely target would be Kata’ib Hezbollah, saying the US had “very good information on the group planning the attack”. He added: “It was led by Iran, not necessarily Iran, but by groups supported by Iran, but that to me is Iran.”

President Trump now has the distraction of a virus and the unfolding of a government-engineered depression to cover what the neocons plan to do in Iraq and Iran. 

Considering Trump had zero reluctance to murder Soleimani in high-tech mob boss fashion, it is entirely possible he will go after Iran’s expeditionary Quds force commander Esmail Ghaani. He is scheduled for a meeting in Baghdad this week. “Ghaani is hoping to unite the Shia factions, and the visit is seen as a test of whether he can match the famed influence of Suleimani.”

Then again, taking into account Trump’s recent vacillations on Iran, he may decline to start another war in the Middle East. He believes the impending depression is “V-shaped” and America will bounce back after increasingly authoritarian COVID-19 measures are put into place and never rescinded. 

If he believes there will be a bounce to prosperity, he is surely deluded. Before the middle of June, it is likely the US will be in a full-blown depression with hyperinflation, food shortages, mass protests, political violence, and the possibility of military rule as laid out in the state’s continuity of government plans for “national emergencies.” 

Oliver North, now handsomely compensated as a patriot-celebrity, in the early 1980s under a compromised Reagan helped put into motion a plan to round-up and intern millions of “troublemakers,” most listed on the Main Core database established by FEMA under National Security Directive (NSD) 69 and National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) 55. Main Core is now held by the NSA, FBI, CIA and more than likely the national security state’s corporate public-private partners (a classic example of Mussolini fascism-corporatism). 

The severity of the depression and the reaction by the state will result in the final and complete destruction of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. This will be of little concern to folks facing poverty, eviction, homelessness, and the disease, mental illness, alcohol, and drug addiction, and early death that invariably accompanies the fall of managed economies and the failure of government. 

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Kurt Nimmo writes on his blog, Another Day in the Empire, where this article was originally published. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research.

It has become a source of pride.  Highly salaried executives – often, it should be said, receiving pay very much disconnected from the value of their work – making voluntary pay cuts and telling everybody else about it.  In sport, celebrated figures such as Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo have chosen to reduce their enormous pay packages for the sake of the game.  Both play for football leagues in Spain and Italy, countries ravaged by COVID-19, and both earn amounts reputedly coming in at $100 million a year.  Such sums are scandalous to begin with, but it enables a sort of virtue to be practised, the sort that leaves few scares.  Clubs such as Barcelona and Juventus host an army of non-playing employees, and such armies risk being culled. 

This point is being demonstrated with some force in the United Kingdom, where handsomely paid players in the English Premier League have resisted calls to be virtuous in parting with their own cash in covering the fees of club staff.  One figure keen to shout the message to do more is health secretary Matt Hancock. “Given the sacrifices many people are making, the first thing PL footballers can do is make a contribution.” 

Julian Knight, chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee, also had a bone to pick with the Premier League, writing a scolding note to its chief executive Richard Masters about potentially misusing the job retention scheme.

“The purpose of the coronavirus job retention scheme is not to support the economics of Premier League clubs.”   

The targets of economic pain have, inevitably, been the staff and personnel who do not find themselves kicking a ball on the pitch.  Clubs such as Tottenham have furloughed non-playing employees.  Newcastle was first out of the box, reducing the salaries of non-playing staff by 20 per cent. This sent a rather ugly message: If you are not a performer on the field, you will be targets of convenience for the financial razor gangs.

Scratching the surface, and we find dissatisfied players such as Andros Townsend, a member of the English football team, none too keen to be either noble or a target of virtue. 

“Football,” he pleaded on talkSPORT, “is trying to do a lot of good.”  He found it surprising that footballers were “being painted as villains”.  (Tool Townsend might be; sharp, he is not.) 

Reductions in his own salary, and those of his peers, was something he preferred to avoid in the discussion.  The focus was on charitable good works, helping the homeless or donating to charities.  “I am involved in a campaign, Football United, raising money for the emergency trust.” A toast, then, to his achievements. 

The pattern is repeated among other football players who prefer to raise money from the public to support what are, already, publically funded facilities.  Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, for instance, is engaged in establishing a coronavirus fund with the purpose of raising millions of pounds for the National Health Service.  The public can pay for something they already pay for, a truly innovative form of charity.

Across industries, the principle of superfluousness is coming to the fore.  The mightily salaried are making claims of reduction to gain a seat in some heavenly kingdom.  In doing so, they hope that no one will notice a cardinal fact: that the cuts are only to the base salary rather than the whole remuneration package.  This has been particularly so in the airline industry, where executives are kitting themselves out in the vestments of a newly found morality.  British Airways CEO Willie Walsh is accepting a 20 per cent pay cut for the remainder of his contract with International Airlines Group.  Australian airline Qantas has also stormed up the ranks of virtue, with Alan Joyce taking no salary for the rest of the financial year ending in June 2020, while the executive management team accept a 30 per cent pay cut.  Before shedding joyful tears for such consideration, Joyce’s rich rewards from the company should not be forgotten.  According to the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors, his pay for 2018 was $23.88 million.

Few, in other words, should rush to join the self-congratulatory party.  Delta CEO Ed Bastian’s base salary is $891,667, which he accordingly intends to cut “by 100 per cent through the next six months.”  That constitutes a trifling 6 per cent of his mammoth $14.9 million compensation package.  As Ethan Wolff-Mann of Yahoo Finance notes, that rich package consists of “stock awards, option awards, and other types of compensation that aren’t connected to the company’s stock price.”  Shares, rather than salary, make the difference.

The picture looks equally seedy in the world of education, where the management heavies continue to bleed university budgets.  In Australia, La Trobe University executives, self-termed “leaders”, have embarked on a process of trimming their bloated salaries.  Senior executives who form a 12-strong group have been asked to cede 20 per cent of their pay packets “in the interest of minimising the economic impact of the crisis”.  Vice-chancellor John Dewar explains the reasoning:

“While the impacts at La Trobe may not be as severe as some other Australian universities, we will soon be facing a simple choice: ‘share the pain’ across the organisation’s staff or implement a significant cost cutting exercise.” 

Given how executive leadership imperilled the Australian tertiary system by overly investing in the foreign student market, they might do a little more than.

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Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge.  He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research and Asia-Pacific Research. Email: [email protected]

With the world’s attention directed towards the coronavirus it may be worth changing focus, and analysing another international incident, the Cuban Missile Crisis. This hugely significant event occurred almost 60 years ago, officially from the 16th to the 28th of October 1962.

While humanity will eventually recover from the coronavirus outbreak, the missile crisis confrontation between America and the USSR came close to destroying our planet. The factors culminating in it were, overwhelmingly, due to American aggression and terror pursued by the John F. Kennedy administration against revolutionary Cuba. Perhaps most serious of all, as the missile crisis was peaking on 26 October 1962, president Kennedy was handed a vital letter in the early evening, written by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

More than 100 US-built missiles having the capability to strike Moscow with nuclear warheads were deployed in Italy and Turkey in 1961. (Public Domain)

In Khrushchev’s lengthy correspondence to JFK, among other things he offered to end the missile crisis with a simultaneous public withdrawal of Soviet nuclear missiles from Cuba, along with the removal of US Jupiter missiles placed in Italy and Turkey, the latter country close to Soviet borders. The Kremlin, we can note, posed no threat of invasion to NATO state Turkey, nor was Moscow directing a major terrorist campaign against Turkey either.

President Kennedy was aware that if he refused Khrushchev’s offer, it would lead to an estimated 33% to 50% increased chance of nuclear war erupting between America and the Soviet Union. Yet Kennedy rejected Khrushchev’s proposal.

The highly regarded author and analyst, Noam Chomsky, wrote of JFK’s act that, “It is hard to think of a more horrendous decision in history – and for this, he is still highly praised for his cool courage and statesmanship” (1). Kennedy’s legacy has been crafted and romanticised to a somewhat surreal extent. When queried on JFK’s record by comparison to then incumbent Barack Obama, Chomsky said, “JFK was far worse, which is not a compliment to Obama”. (2)

Reflecting on the missile crisis Chomsky noted,

“The confrontation finally came down to two basic issues: [1] Would Kennedy pledge that the US would not invade Cuba? And [2] would he make a public announcement that the US would withdraw its Jupiter nuclear missiles from Turkey, on the border of Russia and aimed at its heartland? On both issues, Kennedy ultimately refused. He agreed only to a secret commitment to withdraw the missiles, which had in any case already been scheduled to be replaced by Polaris nuclear submarines. He refused to make any formal commitment not to invade Cuba”. (3)

It was important that Moscow be seen to capitulate before the eyes of the world, with a public withdrawal of their missiles from Cuba. JFK’s belligerence, it must be stressed again, knowingly made it much more likely that a nuclear conflict would ensue, killing hundreds of millions. The Holocaust, widely recognised as the worst crime in history, resulted in the deaths of around six million people.

With Kennedy rejecting Khrushchev’s proposal, this enhanced risk of nuclear war added to the many other risks – already in place – that occurs when tensions are ratcheted up between the world’s two nuclear and military superpowers. In a direct struggle, America was always the stronger and more dominant of the two rivals, holding incomparable advantages.

By 26 October 1962, the overall chance of a nuclear war starting was now undoubtedly approaching a 90% likelihood – and even surpassing that figure in the hours ahead. Hair-raising incidents, as we will see, bear proof of this.

On October 26th Kennedy was “leaning towards military action to eliminate the missiles” in Cuba, according to Sheldon Stern, the well-informed American author. This would almost certainly have resulted in a nuclear conflict.

JFK had moreover rejected Khrushchev’s offer, primarily because he did not want the obsolete US Jupiter missiles with nuclear warheads removed publicly from Turkey. It was feared that the US-led NATO alliance might crack, should such an agreement be carried out under apparent pressure from the Soviets.

Washington wished to preserve their right to place nuclear-armed weapons, and other advanced technology, wherever it wished. The Russians were afforded no such luxury, as Khrushchev would discover. While he was dispatching his missiles to Cuba by stealth, the Americans had openly encircled Russia with offensive instruments of war.

Kennedy’s disregard of the Khrushchev letter was undertaken in order to preserve US prestige, credibility and strategic superiority over Moscow. There is little doubt that these imperialist ambitions were deemed more important to Kennedy, and his advisors, than reducing the possibility of a sprint to the precipice.

In the event of nuclear war, America would be destroyed along with her NATO allies in western Europe, like Britain and France, as would many other countries, including of course the Soviet Union. However, Kennedy and his colleagues did not seek out their western European friends for counsel during the missile crisis, treating them with aloof disdain. Kennedy previously informed his Secretary of State Dean Rusk that Washington’s allies “must come along or stay behind”. (4)

JFK’s closest ally, British prime minister Harold Macmillan, told his cabinet members that Kennedy’s policies were “escalating into war” but that he felt unable “to stop it”. What Macmillan learnt came almost exclusively from British intelligence.

The day after Khrushchev’s letter arrived, 27 October 1962, a terminal nuclear war nearly broke out. The planet was saved that day only by the action of Vasily Arkhipov, a 36-year-old Soviet submarine officer. (5)

With Kennedy having refused to de-escalate the crisis, a dozen US warships zoned in on a Soviet nuclear-armed submarine located near Cuban shores. The submarine was operating legally in international waters, but it was tracked down by US vessels attempting to force a quarantine. Depth charges were then dropped.

A US Navy P-2H Neptune of VP-18 flying over a Soviet cargo ship with crated Il-28s on deck during the Cuban Crisis. (Public Domain)

The Soviet crew became agitated, and were working in increasingly difficult circumstances. Air conditioning in the submarine had failed, with the heat almost too unbearable to endure. Some Soviet crew members fainted because of rising temperatures and the spread of noxious gases on board.

The submarine’s captain, Valentin Savitsky, wanted to fire their nuclear torpedo at the US destroyers, which consisted of a 15 kiloton weapon, equivalent in power to the Hiroshima atomic bomb. Captain Savitsky said,

“We’re going to blast them now! We will die, but we will sink them all; we will not become the shame of the fleet”. (6)

Losing contact with Moscow many days before, the Soviet crew were left in the dark, and did not know if war was taking place above the surface. Orders to fire the nuclear missile were subsequently blocked by Arkhipov, a man well respected and noted for his bravery in the past. In doing so, Arkhipov “saved the world” as Thomas Blanton commented, director of the National Security Archive at George Washington University. (7)

Had the Soviet nuclear torpedo been launched, Washington’s response in such a scenario was a large-scale nuclear attack on Russia; including very likely further assaults at the same time on China, Russia’s communist neighbour. The experienced military expert, Daniel Ellsberg, wrote that US plans called for nuclear strikes in any war on Russia and China together. The Chinese did not develop nuclear weapons until October 1964.

Ellsberg recalled that maps in US headquarters “did not demarcate at all between China and Russia. The Sino-Soviet bloc appeared as one giant landmass, with arrows and pins indicating the various targets” (8). Strategies to hit Russia and China with nuclear bombs were, in fact, firmly embedded in the highest echelons of US political and military circles, as noted by Ellsberg, who enjoyed top level clearance.

That the globe’s preservation came down to last minute interventions, reveals much of the shocking standard of leadership provided by Kennedy downwards; to a lesser extent too, Khrushchev and the Kremlin hierarchy. Khrushchev’s decision to station nuclear missiles on Cuban soil was terribly rash, particularly when faced with an aggressive and inexperienced opponent like Kennedy.

Such chilling close calls were not limited to October 27th. In the air, scores of B-52 American bombers were armed with thermonuclear bombs and ready to go. The US pilot, Major Don Clawson, was ever-present in the skies during these high risk manoeuvres. Clawson believes that the most dangerous day of the missile crisis was actually October 26th, and he remarked on that date,

“We were damned lucky we didn’t blow up the world – and no thanks to the political or military leadership of this country”.

Clawson reminisces on a list of bungling errors and confusion among the American leadership on October 26th, and more broadly during the missile crisis. Clawson wrote of his air commanders that they “did not possess the capability to prevent a rogue crew or crew member from arming and releasing their thermonuclear weapons” once airborne.

Clawson revealed it was impossible to call the pilots back, once they were sent on a mission. There was no inhibitor in the aircraft systems, so as to prevent an insubordinate pilot from initiating a nuclear attack on Russia. Clawson writes of their nuclear arsenals,

“it would have been possible to arm and drop them all with no further input from the ground”. (9)

The US Strategic Air Command (SAC), officially in charge, had little real control and no idea as to what was taking place. Combining all of these risks, one must conclude that we were highly fortunate to have survived this event. The threat of nuclear war was surely at over 90% in the final days.

A pivotal factor resulting in the missile crisis was indeed due to Washington’s malevolence towards Cuba. The attacks started from the winter of 1959-1960, under president Dwight D. Eisenhower, with CIA-supervised bombing and incendiary air raids on Cuba emanating from nearby Miami, and carried out by Cuban exiles.

The terrorist assaults continued under Kennedy – with speedboat machine gun fire on a Cuban seaside resort near Havana, killing a score of Cubans and Russians, contamination of Cuban sugar shipments, attacks on cargo vessels, and so on.

JFK stepped up the terror operations from August 1962 and, alarmingly, they continued right up to and even through the missile crisis. These blows were designed to soften Cuba up, which the White House expected would lead to “open revolt” on the island, before “final success” which “will require decisive US military intervention” in Cuba. The invasion was scheduled for October 1962, the same month as the missile crisis.

Image on the right: President Kennedy and Secretary of Defense McNamara in an EXCOMM meeting. (Public Domain)

On 22 October 1962, Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara told his cabinet associates that “the president ordered us to prepare an invasion of Cuba months ago” (10). The plans were so far advanced that an attack could have been launched within seven days. The Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, and Khrushchev were quite likely expecting a US invasion of Cuba in October 1962. As can be seen, there were mitigating circumstances in Khrushchev’s decision to ship his weaponry to Cuba.

Khrushchev dispatched the missiles as a deterrent to US hostility, and certainly not for the prime purpose of attacking America. He was in addition trying to address the global military imbalance, which was greatly in favour of Washington, with US missiles dotted across Europe with Moscow in mind. Khrushchev wanted to give the Americans “a little of their own medicine”, as he assured colleagues. (11)

Another reason that the missiles in Cuba rankled with Washington, was that it acted as a possible impediment to a US invasion of oil rich Venezuela (12). The US government was then pondering an attack on Venezuela, as deliberated upon in private discussions between JFK and his brother, Robert Kennedy, the Attorney General.

Robert Kennedy, as requested by his older brother, was heavily involved in executing the terrorist campaign on Cuba. The younger Kennedy informed the CIA in early 1962 that overthrowing Castro is “the top priority in the United States government”.

These actions occurred on top of a failed invasion of Cuba in April 1961, at the Bay of Pigs (Playa de Giron). Plans for this illegal attack were extensively formulated by March 1960, in the final year of Eisenhower’s tenure. It was Kennedy who pushed ahead with the invasion once Eisenhower departed in January 1961.

Castro, a formidable adversary of the Americans from almost the beginning, had prepared for and anticipated this US attack at the Bay of Pigs; just as he would nip in the bud a number of terrorist acts. The Bay of Pigs invasion degenerated into a fiasco and personal humiliation for Kennedy, while Castro’s image was strengthened. The atmosphere in Washington after the failed attack was “almost savage”, as remembered by US diplomat Chester Bowles following his attendance at a cabinet meeting.

Kennedy swiftly enacted an even harsher embargo on Cuba, in order to punish the islanders for having the gall to repel a US-run invasion. The embargo was a separate consequential factor that led to the missile crisis 18 months later. Chomsky highlighted of the missile crisis’s conclusion that,

“war was avoided by Khrushchev’s willingness to accept Kennedy’s hegemonic demands. But we can hardly count on such sanity forever”. (13)

Western politicians and mass media, spinning fanciful tales, applauded Kennedy’s handling of the crisis while portraying it as a humbling defeat for Khrushchev. In reality the latter’s decision to remove the missiles eased, though did not entirely eliminate, the potentially catastrophic situation drummed up by Kennedy and his government.

Washington quickly resumed its rampages against Cuba. Less than two weeks after the missile crisis had supposedly ended, on 8 November 1962 an exile team dispatched from America blew up a Cuban industrial facility, killing large numbers of workers. This atrocity enraged Castro and presumably drew reactions of dismay in the Kremlin.

Six months prior to the Cuban Missile Crisis, in April 1962 Kennedy had deployed nuclear missiles to the Japanese island of Okinawa – which were virtually identical to those later sent to Cuba by Khrushchev (14). American missiles on Okinawa were in all probability pointed towards China, and comfortably within striking range of Beijing.

Kennedy stationed missiles in Okinawa at a period of growing regional tension, as antagonism simmered between China and US-backed India over a border dispute along the Himalayas. JFK was a popular and revered figure in India. (15)

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Shane Quinn obtained an honors journalism degree. He is interested in writing primarily on foreign affairs, having been inspired by authors like Noam Chomsky. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research.

Notes

1 Noam Chomsky, “How Many Minutes To Midnight?” Guernica, 6 August 2014

2 Daniel Falcone, “Chomsky weighs in on Kennedy Assassination Anniversary: ‘It Would Impress Kim Il-Sung‘”, Truthout, 22 November 2013

3 Noam Chomsky, Hegemony or Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance (Penguin, 1 January 2004), p. 75

4 W. R. Smyser, Kennedy and the Berlin Wall: A Hell of a Lot Better Than a War (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 28 Aug. 2009), p. 167

5 Nicola Davis, “Soviet submarine officer who averted nuclear war honoured with prize“, The Guardian, 27 October 2017, 

6 Rodric Braithwaite, Armageddon and Paranoia: The Nuclear Confrontation, (Profile Books; Main Edition, 21 Sept. 2017)

7 Callum Hoare, World War 3: How one submarine officer single-handedly saved world from nuclear war, Daily Express, 24 June 2019

8 Daniel Ellsberg, The Doomsday Machine, (Bloomsbury Publishing; UK ed. edition, 7 Dec. 2017)

9 Noam Chomsky, Who Rules The World? (Metropolitan Books, Penguin Books Ltd, Hamish Hamilton, 5 May 2016), pp. 102-103

10 Gus Russo, Stephen Molton, Brothers in Arms: The Kennedys, the Castros, and the Politics of Murder (Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; 1 edition, 28 Oct. 2008), p. 201

11 Raymond Garthoff, Reflections on the Cuban Missile Crisis: Revised to Include New Revelations from Soviet & Cuban Sources (Brookings Institute Press; Rev Ed edition, 2 Jun. 1989), p. 10

12 Chomsky, Who Rules The World?, p. 113

13 Chomsky, Who Rules The World?, p. 114

14 Jesse Johnson, “In first, U.S. admits nuclear weapons were stored in Okinawa during Cold War“, Japan Times, 20 February 2016

15 Colonel Anil Athale, “The Untold Story: How Kennedy came to India’s aid in 1962“, Rediff.com, 4 December 2012

Featured image: CIA reference photograph of Soviet medium-range ballistic missile (SS-4 in U.S. documents, R-12 in Soviet documents) in Red Square, Moscow. (Public Domain)

As the number of COVID-19 cases climbed toward a million worldwide on April 2, over 100 human rights groups issued a joint statement warning that governments’ response to the coronavirus pandemic “must not be used as a cover to usher in a new era of greatly expanded systems of invasive digital surveillance.”

The groups acknowledge that the public health crisis “requires a coordinated and large-scale response” but urge governments “to show leadership in tackling the pandemic in a way that ensures that the use of digital technologies to track and monitor individuals and populations is carried out strictly in line with human rights.”

“An increase in state digital surveillance powers, such as obtaining access to mobile phone location data, threatens privacy, freedom of expression and freedom of association, in ways that could violate rights and degrade trust in public authorities—undermining the effectiveness of any public health response,” says the statement (pdf). “Such measures also pose a risk of discrimination and may disproportionately harm already marginalized communities.”

“These are extraordinary times, but human rights law still applies,” the statement continues. “Now more than ever, governments must rigorously ensure that any restrictions to these rights is in line with long-established human rights safeguards.”

The Coronavirus response “must not be used as a cover to usher in a new era of greatly expanded systems of invasive surveillance.”

We joined 100+ civil society orgs around the world to send a clear message to Governments. We’re watching the watchers 🕵️‍♀️ https://t.co/e7997GdyFA

— Big Brother Watch (@BigBrotherWatch) April 2, 2020

Groups behind the statement are from across the globe and include Amnesty International, Access Now, Big Brother Watch, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Human Rights Watch, Privacy International, Public Citizen, WITNESS, and the World Wide Web Foundation.

Even before the coronavirus outbreak began in China late last year, the country was widely known and criticized for its mass surveillance, including facial recognition technology. In recent months, the Guardian reported in March, “Chinese citizens have had to adjust to a new level of government intrusion” that critics worry will persist even after the pandemic ends.

While the ability to track the virus with digital technology has been pivotal to understanding the outbreak’s development, concerns about how governments and the private sector are using surveillance technology—such as data collection from smartphones—to track people during the pandemic have also emerged elsewhere, such as Singapore, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

“There will be an aftermath to the COVID-19 outbreak. We must ensure that the measures governments are taking right now do not transform this health crisis into a global human rights crisis,” @EstelMP https://t.co/YA9HzGad3K

— Access Now (@accessnow) April 2, 2020

“Governments risk compounding the harms of this outbreak by running roughshod over our privacy and dignity, and ignoring protections that arose in direct response to overreach during past global crises,” Access Now general counsel Peter Micek warned in a statement. “By selling tools of surveillance as public health solutions, authorities and all-too-willing companies could rewrite the rules of the digital ecosystem in corona-colored ink—which we fear is permanent.”

Amnesty Tech deputy director Rasha Abdul Rahim said Thursday that

“technology can play an important role in the global effort to combat the COVID-19 pandemic; however, this does not give governments carte blanche to expand digital surveillance. The recent past has shown governments are reluctant to relinquish temporary surveillance powers. We must not sleepwalk into a permanent expanded surveillance state now.”

“Increased digital surveillance to tackle this public health emergency can only be used if certain strict conditions are met,” added Abdul Rahim. “Authorities cannot simply disregard the right to privacy and must ensure any new measures have robust human rights safeguards. Wherever governments use the power of technology as part of their strategy to beat COVID-19, they must do so in a way that respects human rights.”

🧵THREAD: Today @amnesty joins with +100 civil society orgs around the world, incl @accessnow, @privacyint & @hrw, to send a clear message 📢📢📢: Governments using surveillance technologies to respond to #COVID19 must not sign away our privacy.

https://t.co/2LJ84ovDJB pic.twitter.com/hNr2Nm4zwa

— Rasha Abdul-Rahim (@Rasha_Abdul) April 2, 2020

The groups’ statement details eight conditions they believe must be met to justify increased digital surveillance as part of coronavirus containment efforts. The conditions include demands for transparency, time limits, restrictions on how data can be used, privacy protections, measures to prevent discrimination, and participation from relevant stakeholders.

“This crisis offers an opportunity to demonstrate our shared humanity,” the statement says. “We can make extraordinary efforts to fight this pandemic that are consistent with human rights standards and the rule of law. The decisions that governments make now to confront the pandemic will shape what the world looks like in the future.”

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Following the outbreak of coronavirus in Italy, more than 120,000 Albanians residing in Italy returned to their country. Albania, with a population under 3,000,000, has, as of this writing, 243 cases of coronavirus. That is 84 cases per 1,000,000 people. The death toll thus far of 13 represents a rate of 5 per, 1,000,000 people. These numbers are expected to skyrocket due to the lack of basic health services and service infrastructure to manage the crisis. Additionally, with so many Albanians returning from Italy, which has 1,683 cases per 1,000,000 people, and 192 deaths per million, the risk of further spread of the virus is very high.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has issues strict instructions to combat the spread of the virus. Only one person per household will be authorized to leave their house for one hour a day to shop for groceries or other necessary items, and this only after applying for authorization. Consequences for violating this restriction include denial of unemployment benefits and student scholarships for at least one year. Enforcement of this and related restrictions will be done by police and special security forces who will use force against violators. The Prime Minister has even said that retirees, who among the people highest at risk to die from coronavirus, who do not comply with regulations can be considered traitors. Although extreme, this shows the seriousness with which the Prime Minister takes the threat of the disease.

This situation is worsened with the knowledge that there are more than three thousand members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) in Tirana. Most of these MEK members are all considered to be administrative retirees, but are confined to work in the MEK’s terrorist camp. Many elderly men and women are spending their senior years behind computer systems in the MEK camp, using media accounts on social networks, to engage in media warfare to oppose the legitimate government of Iran, one that the people chose during the Revolution of 1979. Those people in the MEK’s terrorist camp are at high risk of contracting the disease and dying from it.

This is due to two main factors:  First, the sectarian and colonial way of life of the MEK, which has gathered more than 3,000 people in a crowded military camp, will cause widespread and rapid spread of the virus, should even one member of the camp contract it. With a small national population, and over 100,000 people returning to the country from Italy, which has been very heavily hit by the virus, it is highly likely that someone in the camp will get it.

Secondly, since most members of the cult are older, they are at risk. Around the world, people who have compromised immune systems, respiratory problems or who are over the age of 60 are being particularly cautioned to avoid any activities which might expose them to coronavirus. Many MEK members are over 60, because the organization wanted total dedication to the cause, which its leaders expected to be quickly successful, and therefore discouraged them from marrying and having children, which would have distracted them from their illegal and immoral goals. This has made the Mojahedin camp like an isolated nursing home, and in many countries it is nursing homes where the virus has hit the hardest. Also, their long years of living in a fairly isolated area has prevented their exposure to many minor illnesses, which has left them with lowered immunity.

Because of this, the coronavirus is not only a threat to the survival of this cult, but also to the Albanian people. If cult members become ill with the virus and leave the camp (if allowed to do so) to obtain medical treatment or even to live with relatives, they will expose everyone they contact to the disease. With so many Albanians returning from Italy, which has the second highest number of coronavirus cases, and the third number of recorded coronavirus deaths, in the world, the additional risk posed by the elderly MEK members only worsens the situation for the nation.

There have been some news reports indicating that the outbreak and growth of the coronavirus in Albania can be traced to the MEK camp. Yet that initial reporting has had no follow-up, and it appears that powerful influences may have silenced these reports.

Regardless of the source of the disease in Albania, it is apparent that the MEK, always a terrorist organization, is now unwittingly increasing the risk to the health of the people of Albania. MEK terrorists are incapable of working toward any common good; their terrorist activities now include the possible spreading of coronavirus in a nation ill-equipped to handle it.

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The coronavirus crisis will not end anytime soon. Day after day, news about the catastrophe becomes increasingly frightening and alarming. The numbers do not indicate any sign of a truce and we cannot see improvements in the world scenario in the near future. The crisis will affect all sectors of society, damaging politics, economy, education and all branches of civilized life. However, what is most noteworthy is the impact that the pandemic will have on the most basic item of human life: food.

There will undoubtedly be a global food production and supply crisis. This fact was already expected by all analysts. But everything indicates that the crisis will be even more profound: there is an imminent risk of “food shortages” on the world market due to Covid-19 disruptions in international trade and supply chains, warned the leaders of two UN agencies and WTO. This scarcity will be generated by the growing wave of restrictions on exports, which, in the context of contemporary global society, will invariably cause a drastic decrease in the world circulation of food.

In an unusual statement, Chinese Qu Dongyu, who heads the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Ethiopian Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), and Brazilian Roberto Azevêdo, director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) published a text warning about the coming crisis and saying that it is important for all nations to maintain their international business, “in particular to avoid food shortages”. In addition, these three international organizations have issued important warnings about the slowdown in the movement of workers in the agricultural industry, which blocks several Western farmers, and with “border delays for containers of goods”, generating “a waste of perishable products”.

The alert issued jointly by the FAO, WHO and the WTO also affirms the need to protect workers in the food sector in order to “minimize the spread of the virus in the sector and maintain the food supply chains”. Finally, concludes:

“By protecting the health and well-being of citizens, countries must ensure that the set of trade measures does not disturb the food supply network (…) In periods like this, international cooperation is essential (…) We must ensure that our response to the covid-19 pandemic does not involuntarily create an unjustified shortage of essential products and exacerbates hunger and malnutrition”.

If, on one hand, the alert is of paramount importance in the current global context, on the other, there does not seem to be any alternative between the pandemic and the scarcity. In order to minimize the effects of the new coronavirus in their territories, States are adhering to more restrictive and protectionist measures, overlapping the security of their population to the global need for the circulation of people and resources. In other words, the coronavirus is changing the history of globalization, increasing the role of the States and revealing flaws and deep deficiencies in international organizations and in the global system of interdependence.

As an immediate reaction to the resurgence of the State as the main international agent, international organizations are beginning to respond with even more globalist speeches, imploring the maintenance of the free movement of products in the context of the pandemic. Maximo Torero, Chief Economist of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, told The Guardian:

“The worst that can happen is that governments restrict the flow of food (…) All measures against free trade will be counterproductive. Now is not the time for restrictions or putting in place trade barriers. Now is the time to protect the flow of food around the world (…) Trade barriers will create extreme volatility, (…) [They] will make the situation worse. That’s what we observe in food crises.”

In practice, how can we expect governments reacting in any other way than what they are currently doing? How can we expect all nations to keep their trade relations intact while their populations die infected by a devastating disease? Perhaps dreaming of free international trade in the present circumstances is the most utopian globalist wish. In fact, the agents of these international organizations are so ideologically committed to the globalist agenda that they are unable to analyze the case concretely and see the simplest: the whole structure of globalization is flawed and in a context of crisis its effects will be devastating anyway. Perhaps trade will continue and the pandemic will kill even more; perhaps trade is restricted and many die of hunger.

The biggest lesson to be learned from the current crisis is that globalization based on financial capitalism and neoliberalism was a very serious mistake. The foundations of the contemporary world are breaking and the discourses on solutions to the problems presented by the pandemic are beginning to increase everywhere. International organizations harden their globalist discourse and warn on the need to protect international trade, while States are stepping up security measures and downplaying the importance of the circulation of products and capital. Finally, what will be the winning speech? Will we see a return to state leadership or the birth of a new globalization? The only certainty so far is that the post-pandemic world will be very different from the previous one. Perhaps, the best thing to do is thinking about a world with greater food sovereignty and less inequality between nations.

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Lucas Leiroz is a research fellow in international law at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

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On March 31 the US Secretary of State issued a press statement proposing a “pathway” by which all Venezuelans would live happily ever after. At least that is what Mike Pompeo seems to wish. He “call[s] on all Venezuelans, whether military or civilian, young or old, of all ideological tendencies and party affiliations, to consider this framework carefully and seriously.” The 13-point document was posted on the US State Department website with the title “Democratic Transition Framework for Venezuela”. Let’s take a serious look at it.

General observations

An initial major observation can be made even before reading the 13 paragraphs. If this is a proposal meant as a recommendation to resolve an impasse between parties, it will not accomplish its goal because no “serious” proposal can be made unilaterally and much less by a non-friendly government. In the recent past, attempts of international mediation have been flatly dismissed by Washington suggesting US preference for unilateral political and other interests vis-à-vis Venezuela.

A second related general observation – that shouldn’t even need to be explained – must be made about the fact that Venezuela is a sovereign country. All other governments should stay out unless the legitimate government of the country makes a specific request. More than 120 governments recognise the Maduro government as legitimate including the United Nations.

The title is also controversial. Unless by “transition” is meant bringing peace from a conflictive situation, which is what the Maduro government has been asking to the extreme rightwing opposition for years, there is no other transition to be considered. As for “democratic”, the notion used by Washington has lost its real meaning over time, especially when it comes to regime change aspirations.

Those three observations alone would have been enough to suggest that this plan was a foolish decision to make. In fact, it is a non-starter. But for the sake of completion let’s take a look at some of the 13 points.

After a review we noticed that there are seven mentions of lifting “sanctions” at each of seven steps if they are followed according to the “framework”. The author has already referred to the inappropriate use of the word “sanctions” in general. Its use in this context confirms that they are intended to be “a penalty for disobedience”. The preferred denomination is unilateral coercive measures.

What is Venezuela supposed to do in order for the US administration to remove the “penalty for disobedience”? In short, Venezuela is asked to break its 1999 constitution while it is trampled upon during the “transition”, accept the Monroe Doctrine, and open its doors to neoliberal policies and give up its self-determination.

The “democratic transition” breaks the constitutional order

For instance, the first point in part asks for, “Full return of the National Assembly (AN)…National Constituent Assembly (ANC) is dissolved.” This is basically asking a) to legitimise an AN that was in contempt for forcing illegal membership; b) to reinstate Juan Guaidó as the speaker disregarding the election that took place last January when he refused to participate; and c) break the constitution dissolving the constitutionally elected ANC.

Point number 5 requires the AN to approve a “Council of State” Law, “which creates a Council of State that becomes the executive branch”. But this is already being done. In fact, last March 31 president Nicolas Maduro attended the constitutional Council of State in order to deal with “a new imperial onslaught in the middle of the combat with the Covid-19” and to provide advice to the national government according to Articles 251 and 252 of the Venezuelan constitution.

Point number 6 gives another example where the constitutional order must be broken during the “transition”. It states, “All of the powers assigned to the President by the Constitution will be vested exclusively in the Council of State.” Article 251 establishes, “The Council of State is the highest consulting body of the Government and the National Public Administration.” It does not take on the powers of the president.

The “democratic transition” enforces the Monroe Doctrine

This is made clear in a very short paragraph as the third point of the pan. “All foreign security forces depart immediately unless authorized by 3/4 vote of the AN.” US president James Monroe of the 19th Century “Monroe Doctrine” fame must have applauded from his tomb together with all other US presidents that followed who have made similar requests to all Latin American countries at one time or another. This is a reference to the presence of Cuban security advisors and health professionals. But also likely to the close Moscow-Caracas relationship since Hugo Chavez was president to this day with president Maduro. Russian military personnel have been engaged in training of Venezuelan Armed Forces in the use and maintenance of weapons, as well as joint military exercises.

 The “democratic transition” opens the door to neoliberal policies

Here we quote point 9 in full: “The international community provides humanitarian, electoral, governance, development, security, and economic support, with special initial focus on medical care system, water and electricity supply. Existing social welfare programs, now to be supplemented with international support, must become equally accessible to all Venezuelan citizens. Negotiations begin with World Bank, IMF, and Inter-American Development Bank for major programs of support.” This does not require any further explanation except to emphasise that Venezuela’s self-determination will be lost.

The happy ending according to Washington’s script of this political play or farce to be performed in Caracas is that “presidential and AN elections are held” in 6-12 months. But this is a play that is not produced in Venezuela. In fact, Venezuelans will not be participants and protagonists in this play, as it is their constitutional right now. They will be reduced to perform minor roles in a corner of the US “backyard” of Latin America.

The Venezuelan government has predictably rejected the US plan. Foreign minister Jorge Arreaza stated publicly to Mike Pompeo, “decisions in Venezuela are made in Caracas.” The US must have been ready for that reaction because the day after making the “democratic transition” plan public it deployed warships off the coast of Venezuela supposedly to “protect American people” from the scourge of illegal drugs coming from Venezuela. Never mind that the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime reports that 84% of cocaine arrives to the US via Guatemala by the Eastern Pacific and not by the Caribbean.

Here is an idea how the US can help for a real democratic transition framework in Venezuela: end all “sanctions” unconditionally, return to Venezuela all properties seized so Venezuelans can get on with their productive lives to restart the economy, and call on the radical Venezuelan opposition to peacefully and democratically participate in the political life of the country.

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This article was originally published on OneWorld.

Nino Pagliccia is a frequent contributor to Global Research.

Overreaction and big-pharma profiteering from Covid-19 is a repeat of the 2009 H1N1 “Swine Flu” scandal. Why has the corporate media that would eventually expose the 2009 scandal failed to inform readers today that the same corrupt interests are leading the Covid-19 response?  

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Amid Covid-19 hysteria – “real journalists” across the Western corporate media are shamelessly and eagerly fanning the flames of hysteria, panicking the public and ensuring both the government and corporate special interests that influence their policy remain firmly in control.

This includes the stockpiling at the taxpayers’ expense of drugs produced by big-pharma to allegedly fight Covid-19.

This story may sound familiar to some readers because the exact same scenario – albeit on a smaller scale – unfolded 10 years ago during the 2009 H1N1 “swine flu” outbreak.

In hindsight, the declaration by the World Health Organization (WHO) of a “pandemic” was revealed to be the work of financial ties between the pharmaceutical industry and WHO “experts” whose advice paved the way for the “pandemic” designation and the hysteria-justified policies that followed.

Among the big-pharma corporations involved was Roche – who not only provided H1N1 test kits, but also its “Tamiflu” drug to government stockpiles.

Ten years ago – “real journalists” at media platforms like Reuters would even report that Tamiflu was later found to be ineffective and that the stockpiles where a waste of money. A 2009 Reuters article written by Kate Kelland titled, “Stockpiles of Roche Tamiflu drug are waste of money, review finds,” would note:

Researchers who have fought for years to get full data on Roche’s flu medicine Tamiflu said on Thursday that governments who stockpile it are wasting billions of dollars on a drug whose effectiveness is in doubt.

The article also notes:

Tamiflu sales hit almost $3 billion in 2009 – mostly due to its use in the H1N1 flu pandemic – but they have since declined. 

Reuters writer Kate Kelland falls short of mentioning Roche’s financial ties to WHO experts who designated the appearance of H1N1 as a “pandemic” helping pave the way for both public hysteria as well as Roche’s profits from it selling what was essentially a useless drug to government stockpiles.

The BBC – however – in their article, “WHO swine flu experts ‘linked’ with drug companies,” would report:

Key scientists behind World Health Organization advice on stockpiling of pandemic flu drugs had financial ties with companies which stood to profit, an investigation has found. 

Roche was mentioned by name by the BBC (emphasis added):

The advice prompted many countries around the world into buying up large stocks of Tamiflu, made by Roche, and Relenza manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline.

 A New Decade – A New Scandal  

Today, the same WHO and the same Roche are poised to once again both fuel and leverage public hysteria and once again fill government warehouses and acquisition orders with Roche products ranging from testing kits to vaccines and anti-viral medication.

So where is Kate Kelland of Reuters’ article reminding readers of what she reported on 10 years ago about useless Roche medications that somehow found their way in large quantities to government warehouses? Where is her article about medications that were never used and all done at the expense of Western taxpayers?

Nowhere.

Instead, Kelland’s recent articles have focused on reinforcing the official narrative surrounding Covid-19 and justifying increasingly drastic measures taken to panic the public and implement emergency spending that will undoubtedly benefit pharmaceutical corporations like Roche all over again.

Did Kate Kelland of Reuters forget what she wrote 10 years ago? Or are we seeing a pattern where a complicit media covers up these facts to ratchet up hysteria, and reports on abuse, corruption, and scandals only after those involved have filled their coffers and removed themselves far from any prospect of accountability?

Either way – a much easier question to answer is – should we trust media platforms like Reuters – platforms that concurrently promote criminal wars and other forms of corporate abuse – to inform us in times like this – or should we assume that responsibility ourselves – researching first and foremost the conflict of interest and motivation that drive corporations, the media, and governments to fuel public panic and benefit from it?

We must look into the science and statistics ourselves – apply critical thinking and draw our own conclusions. Then – invest in individuals, organizations, and institutions whose activities are in line with what is really happening rather than what corporations want us to think is happening and what aligns best with their profits rather than our individual and collective public health.

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This article was originally published on the author’s blog site, Land Destroyer Report.

Tony Cartalucci is a frequent contributor to Global Research.

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In announcing the most far-reaching restrictions on personal freedom in the history of our nation, Boris Johnson resolutely followed the scientific advice that he had been given. The advisers to the government seem calm and collected, with a solid consensus among them. In the face of a new viral threat, with numbers of cases surging daily, I’m not sure that any prime minister would have acted very differently.

But I’d like to raise some perspectives that have hardly been aired in the past weeks, and which point to an interpretation of the figures rather different from that which the government is acting on. I’m a recently-retired Professor of Pathology and NHS consultant pathologist, and have spent most of my adult life in healthcare and science – fields which, all too often, are characterised by doubt rather than certainty. There is room for different interpretations of the current data. If some of these other interpretations are correct, or at least nearer to the truth, then conclusions about the actions required will change correspondingly.

The simplest way to judge whether we have an exceptionally lethal disease is to look at the death rates. Are more people dying than we would expect to die anyway in a given week or month? Statistically, we would expect about 51,000 to die in Britain this month. At the time of writing, 422 deaths are linked to Covid-19 — so 0.8 per cent of that expected total. On a global basis, we’d expect 14 million to die over the first three months of the year. The world’s 18,944 coronavirus deaths represent 0.14 per cent of that total. These figures might shoot up but they are, right now, lower than other infectious diseases that we live with (such as flu). Not figures that would, in and of themselves, cause drastic global reactions.

Initial reported figures from China and Italy suggested a death rate of 5 per cent to 15 per cent, similar to Spanish flu. Given that cases were increasing exponentially, this raised the prospect of death rates that no healthcare system in the world would be able to cope with. The need to avoid this scenario is the justification for measures being implemented: the Spanish flu is believed to have infected about one in four of the world’s population between 1918 and 1920, or roughly 500 million people with 50 million deaths. We developed pandemic emergency plans, ready to snap into action in case this happened again.

At the time of writing, the UK’s 422 deaths and 8,077 known cases give an apparent death rate of 5 per cent. This is often cited as a cause for concern, contrasted with the mortality rate of seasonal flu, which is estimated at about 0.1 per cent. But we ought to look very carefully at the data. Are these figures really comparable?

Most of the UK testing has been in hospitals, where there is a high concentration of patients susceptible to the effects of any infection. As anyone who has worked with sick people will know, any testing regime that is based only in hospitals will over-estimate the virulence of an infection. Also, we’re only dealing with those Covid-19 cases that have made people sick enough or worried enough to get tested. There will be many more unaware that they have the virus, with either no symptoms, or mild ones.

The Working Group for the Chapter 35 of the Serbian National Convention on the European Union (EU) has called for the authorities in Serbia and Kosovo to create a cooperation to reduce the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We witness the coronavirus pandemic (COVID19) representing a great danger everywhere in the world and the health systems increasingly burdened with the number of infected patients. The pandemic has shown that the spread of the disease goes beyond borders, national and ethnic origin or religion of the affected, and can only be combatted through joint action, cooperation and solidarity. Cooperation is necessary primarily for the sake of humanity and responsibility for human lives in these difficult times,” the press release reads.

In times of crisis, the EU proclaims that Kosovo is in fact Serbia’s responsibility. This unprincipled nature of the EU is solely guided by the interests of its major members and aims to palm off the medical responsibility of the illegal breakaway province of Kosovo back to Serbia. The EU did nothing to suppress Albanian separatism. In fact, the EU supports the illegality of Kosovo’s independence by deploying over 1,000 police officers under the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo mandate and all member states with the exception of Greece, Cyprus, Romania and Slovakia, recognizing Kosovo’s independence.

The EU Task Force on Chapter 35 calls for communication channels between medical staff in Serbia and Kosovo to be open as it would allow the exchange of information on the pandemic to be crossed over on a daily basis. This could also perhaps even contribute significantly to the reconciliation of the two entities. Even though Serbia is under EU pressure to help Kosovo, Belgrade should not give in to any concessions offered by Brussels on the Kosovo issue. The promise of EU membership will certainly be mentioned.

The EU is trying to force Serbia to expend their resources to send aid to Kosovo without expecting any acts of good will from the Albanian side. This is a policy that requires Serbia to treat Kosovo as its own territory while the EU still attempts to make Belgrade accept that Kosovo is an independent state. A

similar appeal was sent to Serbia from the EU at the time of the migrant crisis when the EU also isolated itself of the problems in Kosovo and asked Belgrade to cooperate with Pristina in controlling migrant flows and make records of illegal immigrants traveling via Kosovo in 2015 and 2016.

While Serbia is expected to help Kosovo, despite the EU’s insistence that it is independent, Serbia is not able to assist the Republika Srpska in Bosnia. As part of Bosnia’s independence deal, two entities were formed, the Serbian-majority Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Hezegovina, where the majority of Muslims and Croatians in Bosnia live. Sarajevo’s political leaders are vetoing the decision of the Republika Srpska National Assembly to introduce a state of emergency in its territory to stop the spread of the coronavirus. For political reasons, Muslim Bosnians are stopping life-saving security measures, which are supported by the international community, and while Serbia is expected to help Kosovo, it cannot help the Republika Srpska.

Bosnia blocked the Republika Srpska so that the borders between the two entities could not be closed as the Serbian entity wanted to do. However, if we look internationally to places like Australia, states in the same country have closed their own borders to those who do not live in a particular state. According to the laws of Bosnia, Republika Srpska cannot close their border without approval from Sarajevo.

Therefore, Sarajevo’s moves are about antagonism and political contradiction at a time when coronavirus can engulf both entities of the country. The Bosnian Muslims have no argument for denying measures to protect people from coronavirus and are using this situation to stir up ethnic tensions rather than seeing this as a medical issue. As already showed earlier, it is not a contradiction to close the borders of the entities as many states and regions around the world have closed their borders despite being the same country.

The Republika Srpska are trying to take the coronavirus pandemic seriously and its National Assembly even voted in a majority to declare a state of emergency. Even EU High Representative to Bosnia, Valentin Incko, welcomed the decision and the commitment of Republika Srpska President Željka Cvijanović to use extraordinary powers in the interest of public health. Incko also pointed out that stopping the spread of the coronavirus and saving the lives of citizens must be priorities for all Bosnian authorities. However, his recommendations did not go into the realm of pressuring Bosnian authorities, and so long as the borders remain open, the people of Republika Srpska remain susceptible to higher rates of infection.

While Serbia is expected to assist Kosovo on the behalf of the EU, despite not being an EU member and the EU insisting on Kosovo’s independence, Belgrade also cannot assist Republika Srpska without being accused of interfering in Bosnian affairs. It is little wonder then that Belgrade has lost interest in appeasing Brussels and no longer responds to promises of EU membership, and rather it continues to build its relations with traditional ally Russia as well as emerging superpower China.

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Paul Antonopoulos is a Research Fellow at the Center for Syncretic Studies.

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The world pays constant attention to the coronavirus, occupying the news agencies with a high coverage of the pandemic. Meanwhile, on the global periphery, geopolitics continues at full throttle, with several conflicts occurring unnoticed by most people outside the affected regions. The case of Yemen is a clear example of what we are talking about here. Recently, the conflict in the country completed five years of uninterrupted fighting, reaching the regrettable marks of more than 10,000 killed in the confrontation, in addition to almost 100,000 killed by the social ills caused by the war, such as hunger, mainly among children. The poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula has become a strategic area in strong dispute and a real geopolitical thermometer for Middle East tensions, especially between the two regional powers most involved in the conflict, Iran and Saudi Arabia, which are increasing their rivalry day after day.

The most noteworthy attitude is that of Saudi Arabia, which, aligned with the western axis, has been taking increasingly aggressive stances in the country, causing unnecessary suffering to the local population and prolonging the terror and fear in the region. Human Rights Watch data show that Saudi Arabia has been behind fundamental rights abuses against the Yemeni population, especially in the al-Mahrah region, since at least June last year, when such crimes began to be investigated. HRW Middle East Director Michael Page stated in an interview with PressTV:

“Saudi forces and their Yemeni allies’ serious abuses against local-Mahrah residents is another horror to add to the list of the Saudi-led coalition’s unlawful conduct in Yemen (…) Saudi Arabia is severely harming its reputation with Yemenis when it carries out these abusive practices and holds no one accountable for them”.

Among the abuses reported by HRW, we highlight illegal arrests, torture, kidnappings and compulsory transfer of detainees to Saudi Arabia. In addition, other international crimes had previously been reported by the organization as being committed by the American coalition against Houthi resistance in the region, including bombing homes, businesses and hospitals. In February, at least 30 Yemeni civilians died from airstrikes conducted by Saudi military in the north of the country, in the district of Jawf al-Maslub. The attack was said to have been conducted in response to the downing of a Saudi aircraft by the Houthi forces. In the words of Houthi movement spokesman Yahya Saree:

“As usual, when the most brutal US-Saudi aggression receives painful strikes in the military confrontation fields, it replies with great folly by targeting civilians.”

In March, a fleet of 450 American soldiers landed in Yemen, in addition to an uncertain number of troops from the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. According to information from al-Mashhad, this was the first stage of a project to send 3,000 American and British troops to Yemen, which will land in the regions of Aden, Lahai, Saqtari, Shabweh and al-Mohreh, thus completing a true siege of the country in all geographical directions. In addition, two American warships docked at Balhaf, Yemen’s main natural gas export port. American movements would be motivated in the region to supposedly “fight terrorism”, but several military analysts have already made it clear that the United States intends to intervene in the Yemeni government and install fixed bases in the region, “stabilizing” the situation in the country.

The crisis in Yemen is a real humanitarian catastrophe, with dimensions similar to those of the Civil War in Syria. However, the attention given to the poorest country in the Middle East is minimal, especially in times of the pandemic. Once again, COVID-19 is being used as a “smokescreen” to distract worldwide attention while illegal and aggressive movements are taking place in specific regions of the planet, as has recently become clear with the Israeli advance in the West Bank and the arrival of thousands of American troops to Yemen.

Yet, another factor that is absolutely ignored, being even more serious than military aggression, is the public health crisis and food insecurity generated by Saudi aggression. Yemeni Health Minister Saif al-Haidri recently warned of the neglect with which international society has dealt with the situation, which he called a “disastrous in the shadow of war”. These are his words:

“approximately five and a half million children under the age of five are suffering from malnutrition (…) One child dies every ten minutes in Yemen (…) 80 percent of children in Yemen live in a state of stunting and anemia due to malnutrition (…) Two hundred thousand women of childbearing age or some of they are pregnant or have given birth to malnourished children, which threatens the lives of children”.

Indeed, while the world is distracted by the coronavirus, crimes against humanity are committed with impunity and millions of people starve to death without any humanitarian assistance. Yemen has yet to record any cases of COVID-19, but what can we expect for the near future when Western troops arrive in the country at all times, since the US and Europe are the regions most affected by the pandemic? What will be the future of the Yemeni crisis? Will the West bring peace or the pandemic to the poorest country in the Middle East?

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This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Lucas Leiroz is a research fellow in international at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

Featured image: Rubble aftermath of a Saudi airstrike on a Yemeni neighborhood in 2015. Almigdad Mojalli/Voice of America

We have a natural impulse to extend protection to the very young and to the old first; we offer sympathy and succor to traumatized refugees too.

That’s reasonable. Our seniors and our children require attention as the most vulnerable; immigrants need support in unfamiliar surroundings.

Professors speaking about historical precedents for the COVID-19 emergency invoke the Great Depression and chaotic hospital scenes from World War II. But, hey: we know about that, and more, first-hand!

Yes. So, why not consider us elders, along with our immigrant citizens as assets at this time of crisis and fear–untapped resources? We have abundant practical advice for people fearful and under duress, counsel based on our past experience.

We may not operate computers as nimbly as the young, but priorities are changing. As the COVID-19 crisis makes apparent, some skills become redundant; you’re unmoored from your once brawny anchors. When you’re really scared and grope for alternatives, turn not to apocalyptic movie scenarios but to what seniors have seen and done before you were born, what immigrants were shy to share. Our histories may offer guidance and solace in today’s disaster. We can tell you about our strategies and you can discover how we managed to cope. We’re here as a result, aren’t we?

If elders didn’t suffer a pandemic, we endured other plagues, and we survived because of habits we devised, here not only because America offered sanctuary and opportunity, but also because we rebuilt our lives resourcefully. Heard of ‘rationing’? –A great, simple strategy. Improvisation too. Both painless habits.

We’re grateful to our energetic daughters and grandsons who happily set up our phone apps and install our Netflix. You’ll Google anything—even if we don’t really need it– from potato peelers to airline bookings, and hearing aids– all delivered to our distant home. (Yes, we succumbed to that pampering.)

Surely now’s the time we can reciprocate with tips we learned from our less indulgent, less fast-paced and frugal past.

We can tell you how to recycle cardboard and plastics, invigorate a stew for a second meal, review the merits of baking soda, trim your hair, repair a car or bicycle tire, forage for wild edible plants, disinfect fresh vegetables, substitute one spice for another, preserve surplus food, stitch a face mask.

To survive we adjusted our social skills too, learned dexterity needed to endure wars’ deprivations.

Separated from loved ones, prayer became more routine; we rationed essentials, prioritized limited resources, reused clothes. We hunkered in underground shelters during a bombing blitz, slept on cold floors, coupled with our husband even with mother-in-law and children just meters away. We used water instead of toilet paper—it works great, left hand only (you can learn). We recycled bath water for cleaning, rewashed cotton diapers and sanitary cloths.

These are a few elders’ memories and tips. We’d welcome a chance to share them, granted you’ll doubtless improve on them too.

Then, we are millions of immigrants, refugees from wars (often of U.S. making) who’ve witnessed waves of attacks. Day-after-day we lost a loved one, often unable to perform the last rites for our dearest ones. We turned to caring for our wounded, dared to shelter underground resistance fighters. We rushed from one place to another, seeking somewhere to hide. We left behind a child, an aged parent, a sick friend. We also devised ways to avoid nagging mothers or garrulous brothers. Families became closer, and humor emerged from shared traumas. We endured more than bombardments; sometimes we were hunted down by government commandos, attacked by desperate citizens or rebel militias.

A more threatening curse imposed on us by outside enemies was embargo. Our Iraqi, Venezuelan, Iranian, Vietnamese, Palestinian and Syrians citizens can tell you about embargo-created deprivations, death and isolation– a battering more deadly and invasive than any physical assault. These are contemporary U.S.-perfected and murderous applications of economic and cultural embargoes, sieges sanctioned and extended by the lofty, noble United Nations. (Iraq’s embargo was endorsed in 1990 by the U.N. Security Council/General Assembly, and adhered to worldwide for 13 years! The Vietnam embargo, imposed by the U.S. after its defeat, extended for two decades.)

Documentation of the sanctions-war on Iraq (imposed in 1990 ended only in 2003!) augmented by US-led military bombardment, is hardy remembered today. (My accounts from Iraq during that period published by U. Press Florida, joined those of the International Action Center and published in the 1990s were reports from the field. Later came a Harvard study based on secondary sources.)

Three warning notes from personal experience in Iraq suffice to suggest the trauma Americans, their European and Australian supporters of that war will themselves confront in their neighborhoods very soon.

The first from my friend, sculptor Mohammed Ghani, on my initial visit to Iraq in 1989. Foremost among the memories he felt compelled to share rose from the just ended Iran-Iraq war. “Every day, passed cars with coffins strapped on top, holding the bodies of our sons (back from the battlefield of Al-Faw). Every day, every day; they drove by: one, two, then another, another”, he moaned.

Hardly a year later came the invasion of Kuwait and the first U.S. Gulf War. Among those I interviewed soon after was journalist Kthaiyer Mirey. Among institutions smashed by American bombings in 1991 was Shamaiya Hospital for psychological diseases. Hospitalized for alcoholism, Mirey managed to escape from the bombed smoldering ruins. Many staff were killed; feckless survivors along with some patients escaped. “The dead and wounded”, Mirey told me, “were abandoned; then the dogs entered the debris to clean up.”

Third, was my own witness of an eternal line of martyrs,  their portraits imprinted on banners –Iraqi soldiers who’d fought ISIS (under U.S. occupation during the past decade).

Images of overwhelmed morgues and columns of unaccompanied hearses have reached us from Italyand Spain this week. That will become part of the American landscape.

Young Americans are not yet ready for this; perhaps resourceful elder veterans and refugee victims from U.S. wars abroad can help sustain us. (Then there’s the comfort of our voice.)

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Author-anthropologist BN Aziz has published widely on Nepal and returned from an extended stay there last December. Her journalism articles on Nepal are posted at www.RadioTahrir.org.

The old adage should say: Nothing is certain but death and taxes… and Karma. Karma is as real as it gets. The various holy books made sure to state that ‘What ye sow so shall ye reap’ AKA ‘What goes around comes around.’ Karma has many flavors, but the end result is always the same: What one does will eventually come back to revisit in some form or manner. 

In 1914 the whole of Europe and parts extended were in a world war. This war was not what was advertised as ‘Good vs. Evil’. No, it was a war between major imperialist, colonialist nations for increased power and control.

The propaganda was such that the USA got itself involved to back up our British ally, or should I say our British ‘Big brother’ at the time. The negative energy generated by this ghastly war saw millions of young men (and women) dead, with devastating physical destruction throughout the region. As it is with major weather changes, energy, which can be positive or negative, does influence our atmosphere… for good or for bad. Well, the Spanish Flu from 1918-20 saw 500 million people infected, as the war had already reached its devastating peak. Coincidence, or an expression of Bad Karma? That war was not at all what many historians like to classify as ‘Just War’. It was simply a power grab war initiated by one group of super rich against another. Period!

My nation has had such Bad Karma going back to what we did to the Native Americans and then to the Mexicans, as we gobbled up their lands. Think about this: Who now owns and operates (with help from the super rich corporations) most of the gambling casinos nationwide? The Indians! All those problems with the undocumented (AKA ‘Illegal Aliens’) center around areas that were part of our imperialist ‘Manifest Destiny’. These actions were in lands that were once Mexican: Lower California, New Mexico, Arizona and of course, the home of the Alamo, Texas. Karma dictates that we took their lands by force and now we have to deal with those people, like it or not! We dropped two A-Bombs on Japan, unnecessarily, occupied that country, and then THEY outcompeted us as economic adversaries for years to come. Which of the two countries made the better cars being driven in the USA during the 60s, 70s and right into the present time: General Motors, Ford and Chrysler… or Honda, Toyota and Nissan?

If one wants to speak about Bad Karma, just look back to 2002- 2003 and our most disgraceful, illegal and immoral invasions and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. Our nation’s economy and moral compass are still reverberating from those heinous deeds, which still eat up over HALF of our federal taxes  going for military spending.That was the start of the Bad Karma created by ourselves and our NATO partners in crime. Then, factor in the horrendous carpet bombing of Libya and our excursion into Syria, and you have the present day refugee crisis that is affecting Europe and the Middle East. One additional outgrowth of this has been the rise of  tremendous Neo Nazi right wing movements throughout Europe, Scandinavia, Australia, New Zealand and even the Southern Hemisphere. Who has been the greatest ‘kick starter’ for this Bad Karma? As Sinclair Lewis put it so succinctly: “Fascism will come to America wrapped in a flag”. Others later on added “…. and carrying a cross.” The bottom line is that this incessant American exceptionalism has been the rallying point for the Super Rich who run things to hammer home to their minions. Thus, WE are the mess that We created with Bad Karma.

The new pandemic that the entire world is suffering from slowly reached our shores. Another example of Bad Karma is how this current administration manhandled things from the get go. Instead of preparing to better protect its citizens, especially the front line medical and hospital community, our (so called) leaders called it a HOAX for weeks on end… while the Chinese and Russians practiced due diligence.

Imagine if Amerika had stocked up on protective masks, ventilators, hand washing solutions and of course medicines that the Chinese found to be helpful. Imagine if, at the very beginning of this Pandemic USA, our Congress and administration would have instituted what the Universal Basic Income advocates were trumpeting for years? Then, by today April 2nd 2020 the FED would have created checks of $ 1000 per citizen per month, in addition to extended unemployment insurance and loans to small business. Funny how, when the Sub Prime bubble burst in 2008, despite the right wing wolves’ threats about our terrible deficit, the FED  electronically created the money to bail out the banks. Once again, they have electronically  created the money for this stimulus. Yet, when Bernie Sanders and millions of others have been calling for Medicare for All… they yell ‘ We can’t afford it!!’

So, as our citizens are dying for lack of proper care, and ditto our economy, the Bad Karma keeps on rolling along. Time for the mega millions of us to start taking control of the conversation and create some Good Karma.

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Philip A Farruggio is a contributing editor for The Greanville Post. He is also frequently posted on Global Research, Nation of Change, World News Trust and Off Guardian sites. He is the son and grandson of Brooklyn NYC longshoremen and a graduate of Brooklyn College, class of 1974. Since the 2000 election debacle Philip has written over 300 columns on the Military Industrial Empire and other facets of life in an upside down America. He is also host of the ‘ It’s the Empire… Stupid ‘ radio show, co produced by Chuck Gregory. Philip can be reached at [email protected].

The events of the last century as well as today reveal that not only the “simple” people fail in the resistance against totalitarianism and fascism. Intellectuals, too, fail to live up to their responsibility despite an academic education and the opportunity to gain insight into political, economic and socio-psychological contexts. The current worldwide exceptional situation, the deliberately created panic, the disproportionate restriction of civil liberties, the selection of elderly and sick fellow citizens and the economic crash landing, which will drive millions of people into unemployment and hopelessness, hunger and finally to death, requires of us all most urgently to be wise, to distinguish between truth and lie and to act accordingly.

“Have the courage to use your own intellect!”

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Age of Enlightenment, people began to free themselves from medieval thinking. From then on, human affairs were to be guided primarily by human reason. The individual was to free himself from narrow-mindedness, credulity and arbitrary authority, and personal freedom of action (emancipation) was to be extended.

The German philosopher Immanuel Kant defined “Enlightenment” in the year 1784 as follows: “Enlightenment is man’s exit from his self-inflicted immaturity. Immaturity is the inability of his mind without the direction of another.” According to Kant, the immaturity of man is then self-inflicted when it is not a lack of understanding that is the reason, but the fear of using one’s own understanding without the guidance of another. Kant coined the motto of the Enlightenment: “Sapere aude!”, which means “Dare to know”, or as Kant explained it: “Have the courage to use your own intellect!” Enlightenment is therefore the maxim to think for oneself at all times.

But why do people often remain underage throughout their lives – and this also even though they have long since grown up and would be able to think for themselves? Kant said the reason is laziness and cowardice. Being underage is comfortable and independent thinking is a “grumpy business”. So it would be easy for others, Kant said, to become “guardians” of these underage people. These guardians would also do everything to make sure that the underage people do not only find the step to maturity arduous but also dangerous.

Underage behavior today

Have we today, in the 21st century, already shed this underage behavior? What about our courage to think for ourselves in the present uncertain situation? Is it not more comfortable for a spoiled and lazy person to make use of the guidance of an authority or a leader, to be in harmony with a supposedly powerful person and his mass media and to belong to the circle of his court vestments? He is then always on the “right” side. Doubts and moral scruples do not then oppress him, since he can always refer to the supposedly infallible power.

It is difficult to think for oneself and to be responsible for the consequences of such mature behavior. Doubts overtake the seeker of truth, the nightly sleep becomes restless. If a self-thinking person then also comes to unpleasant truths that are in conflict with the powerful and with political correctness, previous companions quickly turn away from him. The result of this courage can be loneliness. Loneliness, however, not in the sense of being alone, but in the sense of refusing dialogue.

The German-Jewish professor and writer Hannah Arendt experienced such a refusal in connection with a journalistic slander campaign following the publication of her report on the Eichmann trial in 1961: “Eichmann in Jerusalem. A report of the banality of evil”. For her this experienced refusal of dialogue was “the extreme form of human misery”(p. 34).

Do what? Think for yourself at all times!

Every individual has to contribute to the solution of the urgent problems of our time. And of course we are able to do so when we are aware that it depends on each and every one of us. Why not have the courage to make use of your own intellect, have the courage not to suppress the monstrousness of today, but to really and to stand up against it – intellectually,  emotionally, politically. In the face of all odds, have the determination to find the truth and thus to preserve the dignity as a human being. Overcoming the inertia of the heart and acting.

According to Albert Camus, every person has a more or less large sphere of influence. The Swiss writer Gottfried Keller (1819-1890) put it this way: “No government and no battalions (…) are able to protect law and freedom where the citizen is not able to come to the front door himself and see what is there”. (Zürich short stories)

The upbringing of the adolescent at home and at school is very important for development of such responsible behavior in the adult age of elementary importance. The basis is an education of conscience and a sustainable education in values and virtues from early childhood on. What every society urgently needs in order to be able to cope with the future well and to shape it in a self-determined way are responsible fellow citizens who take responsibility for the general welfare of the people.

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Dr. Rudolf Hänsel is a qualified psychologist and educationalist.

The European Union (EU) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), an association of post-Soviet states, effectively serve a similar function to each other as an economic bloc. Unlike the 27-member EU, the EEU has only 5-members as many post-Soviet states allege it is nothing but an attempt to revive the Soviet Union, which the countries of the West do not want to promote. The West’s resistance has brought no economic benefit to it and this geopolitical duel was reflected in the limited success of sanctions against Russia. However, the credibility of the EU and the liberal orders continues to diminish as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Therefore, the coronavirus pandemic actually creates a unique opportunity for the EU and EEU to integrate into a single system, or at least move closer together.

Russia’s dominance of the EEU is both a positive and a negative for Eurasian integration. Russia’s large market forms the basis of the integration potential of the EEU, however, limited economic growth, sanctions and its participation in global geopolitics create risks for the Eurasian integration process. However, Eurasian integration would be in the interest of EU as it will connect European states to new markets in Central and East Asia far more efficiently and quickly then by other means. The EU claims that it works towards common markets and efficiency but does not seriously consider connecting Lisbon on the Atlantic Ocean to Vladivostok on the Pacific Ocean.

The EU is losing its position as a top trading partner of the EEU, and it’s not just because of China’s growing importance. As a trading partner of the EEU, China has already surpassed most of Europe. The role of the EU as a trading partner of the whole EEU is due to the important role of the EU for Russia. However, Russia has been slowly turning eastward from the EU for years now as the future leading economies of the world will shift from the West to Asia.

Coronavirus is certainly accelerating this reality as the entirety of the Anglosphere and Western Europe head towards a severe recession unable to handle the economic pressures of the pandemic. This pandemic and economic downturn effectively means that only China and Russia will compete for investments in the extremely resource rich Central Asia. As EU economies begin to recover in the aftermath of the coronavirus and their energy demands are not being met access to Central Asia may become a priority. Ironically, Russia is the only means for the EU to enter the markets of the post-Soviet countries outside of Eastern Europe. Therefore, with the liberal order severely damaged in the face of coronavirus, it will have to be acknowledged in the West that the EEU project as a whole is a force for good and the EU will have to admit it made a mistake by not initially recognizing the EEU.

With this in mind, the EU must show independent foreign policy and resolve its disputes with Russia, even if Washington insists on enacting hostiles relations with Moscow. As the EU originally began as an economic union without much of a political nature, by returning to their roots will mean naturally a change in foreign policy. If the economy is the concentrated expression of politics, then mutual economic interests should be the foundation of reconciliation between Brussels and Moscow.

French President Emmanuel Macron is one of the leading voices in normalizing relations with Russia, despite his harsh rhetoric against Moscow time to time. Let’s consider Macron’s Facebook post from last year where he said

“progress on many political and economic issues is evident, for we’re trying to develop Franco-Russian relations. I’m convinced that, in this multilateral restructuring, we must develop a security and trust architecture between the European Union and Russia.”

With Macron stressing that Russia is part of Europe, he expanded on General de Gaulle’s famous phrase that Europe stretches “from Lisbon to the Urals,” to say that Europe extended to Vladivostok, close to the North Korean border. Macron is one of the most powerful voices in Europe and strongly endorses a weakening of U.S. influence in Europe through various means, including criticism of NATO and suggestion to have it replaced with a European military.

The EEU’s vision of Lisbon to Vladivostok as a common space is the best way to avoid a crisis on the Eurasian landmass. For countries like Ukraine who are stuck between both East and West, the integration of the EU and EEU would actually serve as a stabilizing factor. Therefore, as the coronavirus has exposed weaknesses in the liberal globalized order, an opportunity has actually emerged where the EU and EEU can more closely align and integrate.

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This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Paul Antonopoulos is a Research Fellow at the Center for Syncretic Studies.

Featured image is from InfoBrics

A future without independent media leaves us with an upside down reality where according to the corporate media “NATO deserves a Nobel Peace Prize”, and where “nuclear weapons and wars make us safer”

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Critical Shortage of Ventilators and Protective Gear Persists

By Stephen Lendman, April 03, 2020

Governor of hard-hit NY state Anthony Cuomo stressed that if a patient “needs a ventilator” and they’re all in use because of an insufficient supply, “the person dies” from suffocation.

That’s the disturbing reality of a critical national shortage at a time when they’re vitally needed.

As daily COVID-19 infections increase exponentially in the US, numbers on Friday will way exceed 250,000 by day’s end.

Can We Trust the WHO?

By F. William Engdahl, April 03, 2020

The most influential organization in the world with nominal responsibility for global health and epidemic issues is the United Nations’ World Health Organization, WHO, based in Geneva. What few know is the actual mechanisms of its political control, the shocking conflicts of interest, corruption and lack of transparency that permeate the agency that is supposed to be the impartial guide for getting through the current COVID-19 pandemic. The following is only part of what has come to public light.

COVID-19: Cover for Military Attack on Iran and Iraq?

By Kurt Nimmo, April 03, 2020

Now that the American people are consumed with fear and loathing of an overblown virus “pandemic,” the neocons around Trump see a chance to finally and decisively deal with Iran—not simply by blocking humanitarian aid but also piling on more sanctions and, possibly within a matter of days or weeks, attacking Shi’a militias in Iraq and possibly launching a long-promised direct military attack on Iran proper. 

The Bigger Picture Is Hiding Behind a Virus

By Jonathan Cook, April 03, 2020

Under cover of the public’s fear, and of justified concerns about the state of the economy and future employment, countries like the US are transferring huge sums of public money to the biggest corporations. Politicians controlled by big business and media owned by big business are pushing through this corporate robbery without scrutiny – and for reasons that should be self-explanatory. They know our attention is too overwhelmed by the virus for us to assess intentionally mystifying arguments about the supposed economic benefits, about yet more illusory trickle-down.

Why Did Russia Just Halt Domestic Gold Purchases?

By Zero Hedge, April 03, 2020

In recent years, as Kitco notes, the Russian central bank has dominated the gold market, consistently increasing its gold reserves every month for the last three years. According to data from the World Gold Council, the Russian central bank bought 158.1 tons last year. The WGC data shows that the central bank bought 8.1 tons of gold in January.

New York Fed December 2019 Plans to Throw $2.93 Trillion at Wall Street’s Trading Houses

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens, April 03, 2020

The New York Fed’s repo (repurchase agreement) loan program began on September 17 when repo loan rates spiked from approximately 2 percent to 10 percent – meaning either liquid funds were not available to loan or the mega banks on Wall Street were backing away from lending to certain counterparties. Repo loans are typically between banks, hedge funds and money market funds on an overnight basis and are made against good-quality collateral. Since that time, the New York Fed has been making these loans to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars weekly.

10 Signs the U.S. Is Heading for a Depression

By Mike Whitney, April 03, 2020

Thursday’s jobless claims leave no doubt that the country is in the grips of another severe recession. More than 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment insurance in the last week. That number exceeds the gloomiest prediction of more than 40 economists and pushes the two-week total to an eye-watering 10 million claims.

China Rolls Out the Health Silk Road

By Pepe Escobar, April 03, 2020

When President Xi Jinping was on a phone call in mid-March with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conti, before the arrival of a China Eastern flight from Shanghai to Milan full of medical help, the key takeaway was the Chinese pledge to develop a Health Silk Road (Jiankang Sichou Zhilu).

That was in fact already inbuilt in the Belt and Road Initiative playbook since at least 2017, under the framework of enhanced, pan-Eurasian health connectivity. The pandemic only accelerated the timeline. The Health Silk Road will run in parallel to the multiple overland Silk Road corridors and the Maritime Silk Road.

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Syrian Army positions in the town of Saraqib came under joint shelling from the Turkish Army and Turkish-backed armed groups late on April 1. Strikes were carried out from the area of Almastumah, where Turkish military positions are located. The April 1 incident became the second attack on Syrian Army troops in the area in the last 3 days.

At the same time, Turkish forces continue their military buildup in the Idlib de-escalation zone. Two more convoys with armoured vehicles and artillery pieces crossed the border into Syria. Before the start of Ankara’s Operation Spring Shield in February 2020, the number of Turkish troops in Idlib was estimated at 5,000. Syrian sources say that by April 2020 this number reached 7,000.

And there are no indications that Turkey is going to use this force to put an end to the presence of al-Qaeda-linked terrorist groups in the region. Rather, it sees these groups as important allies and the pillar of its policy aimed at strengthening its control over northwestern Syria and turning it into a quasi-state under a Turkish protectorate.

Just recently, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, one of the groups that Turkish forces protect from the Syrian Army, executed a civilian accusing him of spying for Syrian government forces. 68-year Rifaat Mahmoud al-Daqqah, a former member of the Syrian Parliament, was detained by militants in May 2019. Terrorists claimed that he was providing the Syrian military with information on terrorists’ positions in the southwestern part of Greater Idlib, mainly around the town of Kabani.

Al-Daqqah, originally from the town of al-Janoudiyah, abandoned his position in the Syrian Parliament in 2011, in the early days of the crisis. Back then, militants pressured many officials and service members to defect by threatening their lives, families and businesses.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other Idlib groups regularly arrest and execute civilians, accusing them of spying for Syria, Russia or Iran. In most cases, they do not bother to support these claims with any evidence, rather they use such claims as a pretext to terrorize and subjugate the local population.

These atrocities happen right under the nose of Turkish observation posts, which have supposedly been set up by the Turkish military to restore security in the region. Nonetheless, it seems that Ankara has no problem with the execution of civilians, training of suicide bombers, arming of al-Qaeda-affiliated  groups or public calls to cleanse a majority of the population living in the government-controlled part of Syria as long as organizations doing this serve its foreign policy interests.

On April 1, Brig. Gen. Esmail Ghaani, the commander of Iran’s Quds Force, paid an unofficial visit to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. He reportedly met with several influential Iraqi commanders and politicians, discussing with them the current security and political situation in Iraq. In March Brig. Gen. Ghaani visited Syria, where he inspected the frontlines in the northern province of Aleppo.

Ghaani succeeded former Quds Force commander Brig. Gen. Qassam Soleimani, who was assassinated in a US strike on Baghdad Airport in January 2020. His visit to Iraq comes amid the ongoing US effort to regroup its forces in Iraq and reinforce them with Patriot air defense systems. Two Patriot batteries are already there.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump announced that the US has “information” and “belief” that “Iran or its proxies are planning a sneak attack on U.S. troops and/or assets in Iraq.” Top US officials often make such claims before conducting strikes on targets affiliated with Iran and/or before announcing a new round of sanctions.

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The Globalization of War: America’s “Long War” against Humanity

Michel Chossudovsky

The “globalization of war” is a hegemonic project. Major military and covert intelligence operations are being undertaken simultaneously in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia and the Far East. The U.S. military agenda combines both major theater operations as well as covert actions geared towards destabilizing sovereign states.

ISBN Number: 978-0-9737147-6-0

Year: 2015

Pages: 240 Pages

List Price: $22.95

Special Price: $15.00

Click here to order.

The official figures for 24 countries across Europe show, not only that overall mortality is not increasing, but – so far – it is actually well below recent averages.

The statistics were gathered by the European Monitoring of Excess Mortality for Public Health Action (EuroMOMO), an international partnership of agencies from 24 European nations aiming to promote preparedness for public health emergencies.

They track “excess mortality”, meaning the number of officially recorded deaths vs the average death rate.

We recommend you check their website, where each country is broken down by age demographics. Today, we’re focusing on their maps.

Here is the map showing Europe’s excess mortality for Week 12 of 2020 (19th-25th March):

MOMO Europe mortality, week 12 2020

As you can see, currently, the vast majority of Europe shows “no excess”. That means deaths are either at or below expected levels. Italy is the one obvious exception. But note it is only on “high”, not “very high”.

For some context, maybe we should compare it to previous years.

Here is week 6 of 2019:

MOMO Europe mortality, week 6 2019

As you can see, it’s generally much worse. Several countries in “above average”, Spain and Portugal on “high”, and France is even “very high”.

We didn’t have a global lockdown in 2019.

Here are weeks 1 & 2 of 2018:

MOMO Europe mortality, week 1 2018

MOMO Europe mortality, week 2 2018

This was the height of the huge 2017/18 flu season. As you can see, Europe was greatly affected.

We didn’t have a global lockdown in 2018.

Week 2 of 2017 was even worse:

MOMO Europe mortality, week 2 2017

The whole of Western Europe experienced a huge spike in excess mortality, especially bad in all the Mediterranean countries.

We didn’t have a global lockdown in 2017.

Obviously, things may change (week 13’s results are due tomorrow), but – as it stands – the 2020 figures are substantially lower than the previous three years.

So, the question is, if we didn’t have a lockdown in 2017, and we didn’t have a lockdown in 2018, and we didn’t have a lockdown in 2019….why do we have a lockdown now?

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Featured image is from CODEPINK

Governor of hard-hit NY state Anthony Cuomo stressed that if a patient “needs a ventilator” and they’re all in use because of an insufficient supply, “the person dies” from suffocation.

That’s the disturbing reality of a critical national shortage at a time when they’re vitally needed.

As daily COVID-19 infections increase exponentially in the US, numbers on Friday will way exceed 250,000 by day’s end.

Medical workers on the front lines of treating the sick are most vulnerable to become infected.

On Thursday, National Nurses United (NNU), the nation’s largest RN union, addressed Trump by letter, saying the following:

“Across the nation, our health care workforce does not have the personal protective equipment it needs to safely care for patients without risking exposure to the virus,” adding:

“As a result, health care workers are at risk of illness and death, which puts our entire health care system at risk of collapse.”

“Further, when health care workers are exposed to the virus, they risk transmitting the virus to their families, patients, and communities.”

“If our country fails to immediately protect our health care workers, we will fail to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.”

By invoking the Defense Production Act, Trump can order companies to produce ventilators, personal protective gear, and whatever else is needed for medical staff to treat COVID-19 patients.

He barely used it. Last Friday for the first time, He called on General Motors to produce ventilators, what it’s gearing up to do anyway.

For the most part, he chose to let the private sector decide how and to what extent it’ll deal with the COVID-19 crisis to produce equipment, gear, and medications needed.

True enough, factories can’t covert from producing cars or appliances to medical supplies overnight.

During WW I and II, US auto makers shifted from passenger cars to aircraft, tanks and guns to support the war effort.

A similar approach is needed now to wage war on and defeat COVID-19.

It includes mass-producing COVID-19 test kits, providing medical staff with needed supplies, treating infected individuals, feeding the hungry and food insecure, and providing households with helicopter money to get by.

Instead of a national coordinated effort to deal with the public health crisis, directed by the Trump regime, governors in the 50 states are left to cope with it on their own.

They’re forced to compete for scarce supplies, trying to outbid each other to get what’s needed, an untenable situation.

National Nurses United called for the Trump regime to order mass production of essential equipment and supplies needed to wage war on COVID-19 — as authorized under Title III of the Defense Production Act.

NNU also urged the White House to immediately release and distribute from the strategic national stockpile large numbers ventilators, PPE, testing equipment, and life-support ECMO machines that are used for patients with life-threatening conditions like severe lung damage from infection.

On Wednesday, Bloomberg News reported medical staff on the frontlines of treating COVID-19 patients are “frustrated that they’re being sent into a deadly battle without the protective gear they need for themselves and their patients.”

Things are especially dire in NYC where over 90,000 infections were reported and over 1,000 deaths, including seven medical workers.

American College of Emergency Physicians board member Dr. Ryan Stanton expressed frustration, saying:

“We are the richest country in the world, and yet we can’t protect our health-care providers when fighting the deadliest virus we’ve dealt with in most of our lifetimes,” adding:

“There’s a significant level of distrust with physicians and nurses and others because we feel the requirements and suggestions for PPE are being downgraded because of availability and not because of science.”

While most Americans shelter in place at home, medical staff show up daily on the job to treat sick patients.

On Tuesday, executive director Henry Garrido of District Council 37, representing emergency medics, nurses’ aides,  respiratory therapists and other NYC public workers, said the following:

“Our members are exhausted. They are scared. (But) (t)hey continue to soldier on.”

NYC registered nurse Karine Raymond said because conditions are worsening without let-up, she’s seriously thinking of writing her will.

“Nurses aren’t going to walk out,” she said.  “We’re very realistic. We’re doing the best we can.”

“We’re trying hard to try and help these poor souls without unduly opening ourselves up to anything dangerous. If we go down, then there’s nobody left to care for the patients, is there?”

According to the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, around half of NYC hospitals reported that they’re critically short of respirators, masks, hand sanitizers, and other essential items needed to treat COVID-19 and other patients.

Rochester, NY UR Medicine’s director of infection equipment Ann Marie Pettis said

“(o)ur days are spent frantically searching for personal protective equipment,” adding:

Staff is forced to re-use single use items. “(T)his goes against everything we have known from the scientific evidence and what we have always taught our staff.”

Hospitals in the US nationwide face similar conditions that jeopardize medical staff and patients.

On Friday, a Lancet medical journal editorial slammed the US healthcare system, saying:

“The USA is a stark reminder of the divide that exists in countries without a universal health-care system.”

“For people who do not have private medical insurance, (the COVID-19 crisis) might see them face the choice of devastating financial hardship or poor health outcomes, or both.”

During 2009 H1N1 swine flu outbreaks in the US, “individuals with poorer health outcomes were those in the lowest socioeconomic groups.”

“This same group of vulnerable people have now been caught in the middle of a major health emergency as a result of long-standing differences in affluence.”

America’s poor and low-income are most vulnerable to be harmed economically, financially, and health-wise at all times in the US, especially at times like now.

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Award-winning author Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)

His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Official US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) numbers have been rigged since the neoliberal 90s to conceal the dismal state of the US labor market.

New millennium low unemployment in the US is a myth.

Based on how unemployment was calculated in the 1980s, the real rate exceeded 20% before the dual economic/public health crisis.

The official pre-crisis BLS sub-4% U-3 number is state-sponsored deception. The data are corrupted as follows:

Millions of discouraged workers are excluded from monthly reports, treated as nonpersons, individuals wanting work, giving up after failing to find it — the numbers sure to skyrocket ahead.

The Labor Department’s so-called “birth-death model,” estimating net non-reported jobs from new businesses minus losses from others no longer operating, is deception to add jobs that may not exist.

The BLS assumes workers from non-operating companies are employed elsewhere. From 30 – 50,000 more jobs are added monthly, assuming new business creations whether or not they exist.

The BLS admits misreporting, saying “(t)he confidence level for the monthly change in total employment is on the order of plus or minus 430,000 jobs.”

In more normal times, headlined monthly unemployment numbers conceal the US job market’s deplorable state.

Since the neoliberal 90s, the state of America’s economy has been dismal for its working class, struggling to get by.

Most jobs created are low-or-poverty-wage, poor-or-no-benefit temporary or part-time ones. Most households need two or more to survive.

For growing millions today, it’s a life and death struggle. If unemployment benefits run out and no substantial federal relief comes to the rescue, millions of Americans won’t have income to feed their families, pay rent, service mortgages, cover medical bills, and obtain other essentials to life.

Until the current dual crisis erupted, America’s privileged class never had things better.

Throughout most of the new millennium, ordinary Americans have endured protracted Depression conditions — now deepening because of what’s going on.

Economist John Williams reengineers US government data, based on how it was calculated in the 1980s.

He estimated that US unemployment could reach 43% in April. At the height of the 1930s Great Depression, it was around 25%.

He believes another Great Depression is unfolding in real time, the worst to come as socio-economic turmoil is just beginning.

“Extraordinarily unstable circumstances continue in the global markets,” he stressed, adding:

“Economic, financial market, and political turmoil likely have just begun, despite ongoing, massive systemic manipulations and interventions.”

“Collapses loom for (the US) first and second quarter GDP.” The state of the nation for its ordinary people is coming apart at the seams in unprecedented fashion.

If looming US economic Depression looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it likely is one — the so-called duck test.

In the last two weeks, an unprecedented 10 million US workers filed new claims for unemployment benefits.

The previous single-week high was 695,000.

Layoffs continue, millions more US workers to be laid off or furloughed by employers.

Beleaguered Boeing offered buyouts to its entire 161,000 workforce, the once bellwether US company perhaps close to bankruptcy without far more federal aid than offered.

Before current crisis conditions end, Americans will understand what they’re all about far better than textbooks or expert talking heads can explain.

Living through them creates awareness more keenly than any other way.

With most Americans living from paycheck to paycheck in more normal times, public angst, misery, and desperation ahead may be unprecedented.

Economist Mark Zandi estimates that about 15 million US mortgage holders could stop servicing them if current conditions continue throughout the year.

Tens of millions of Americans are hunkered down. Shops along Chicago’s upscale Magnificent Mile are closed and boarded-up to prevent looting.

Where visible, merchandise was removed from windows. Round-the-clock lighting and alarm systems also protect them.

Security guards man empty/enclosed shopping malls. Some upscale retailers like Tiffany, Gucci, Dior, Versace, and others emptied their stores of merchandise to protect it. Police provide more protection.

Nearly 300 million Americans are under some form of lockdown in 38 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico — about 90% of the US population, perhaps heading for mandating it nationwide.

The order excludes going out for food, prescription drugs, medical appointments, and what else is essential like caring for elderly relatives.

With most people sheltering in place at home, farmers may be hard-pressed to find workers needed for planting and harvesting crops.

A similar scenario exists abroad, risking less food, possible rationing, and higher prices ahead — unless price controls are instituted as during WW II because of shortages, much of the output in the US and other countries going to the war effort.

If things play out this way in the months ahead, poor, low-income, and even middle-income households will be hard-pressed to make ends meet.

The worst of scenarios would mean unprecedented hard times.

During WW II I remember as a young boy in grammar school, I was well fed and clothed, deprived of nothing I recall at a time of rationing except my favorite bubble gum, nearly all of which went to US military personnel.

Things now are different with much of the economy shutting down or heading in this direction at a time when most households have little or no savings and consumer debt is at an all-time high.

There’s high risk of many thousands of mostly small, but some medium-and-large-size businesses as well, shutting down and not reopening when the coast is clear.

Before current crisis conditions erupted, millions of US households were and remain food insecure.

Feeding America calls itself “the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States including in disasters and national emergencies,” adding:

“The most vulnerable people in our communities need us now more than ever.”

The organization launched a COVID-19 Response Fund, “a national food-and fund-raising effort to support people facing hunger and the food banks who help them.”

It’s working with school districts and government agencies to supply “school meals (for children) outside of” classrooms.

It’s trying to build an inventory of food supplies. Along with likeminded efforts nationwide, Feeding America faces unprecedented challenges in the current environment.

A decade ago, around 50 million Americans were food insecure, according to the US Department of Agriculture, the number lowered to 37 million in 2018, the true number likely higher.

If dire economic conditions continue throughout year or longer, the number could increase two-or-threefold.

Feeding America explained that “(f)ood insecurity does not exist in isolation, as low-income families are affected by multiple, overlapping issues like lack of affordable housing, social isolation, chronic or acute health problems, high medical costs, and low wages” — and, of course, unemployment that already skyrocketed and heads higher.

A Final Comment

After the October 1929 stock market crash, prelude to the Great Depression, Herbert Hoover, in March 1930, said:

“We have passed the worst…(D)uring the next 60 days,” things will begin normalizing.

In his book titled Lords of Finance, Liaquat Ahamed said

“when the facts refused to obey Hoover’s forecasts, he started to make them up.”

Government agencies were pressed to issue false data. Some officials refused and resigned, including head of the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Judging him by his rhetoric and actions, Trump is a modern-day Herbert Hoover.

Weeks earlier claiming COVID-19 outbreaks would abate, not rise, he added that “(w)e’re going very substantially down, not up.”

With global outbreaks exceeding one million, the US is by far the most adversely affected country with around one-fourth of the world total.

It’s largely because of Trump regime indifference to growing national crisis conditions — states and local communities left mostly on their own to cope.

Limited federal aid is offered when mountains of it are needed, especially for hardest-hit areas like NY, especially NYC with around 93,000 reported cases.

A state of emergency exists in city hospitals overrun with infected patients.

ER Dr. Darien Sutton explained that “(i)t almost seems like it’s never stopping.People keep coming and coming and coming, and there’s just no space to put them.”

Medical staff are exhausted from trying to cope with an untenable situation. On the front lines of providing treatment, they’re highly vulnerable to infection.

Who’ll treat the sick if many medical professionals join their numbers?

One NY doctor expressed what countless others feel, saying: “It is terrifying. It is really terrifying.”

Instead of going all-out to help beleaguered states and cities, Donald (Herbert Hoover) Trump continues to ignore growing needs nationwide, instead saying:

The economy will “pop back like nobody’s ever seen before.” Echoing DJT, Mnuchin made similar comments.

Serving monied interests and themselves exclusively, they, other regime officials, and most congressional members are indifferent to the health, welfare, and fundamental rights of ordinary people everywhere.

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Award-winning author Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)

His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

This morning, the Department of Labor (DOL) released data on initial unemployment insurance (UI) claims, showing that UI claims jumped from 211,000 in the week ending March 7th to 6.6 million in the week ending March 28th.

This is more than a 3,000% increase in three weeks. This kind of upending of the labor market in such a short time is unheard of.

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The figure shows initial UI claims over time. The spike at the end shows the unprecedented territory we are in right now. (Note: Because the x-axis covers more than 50 years and the increase in the last two weeks is so drastic, the last two observations appear to be in a vertical line.)

What the labor market is currently experiencing is far more extreme than anything we’ve ever seen, including the worst weeks of the Great Recession.

It’s worth noting that UI claims do not include many workers who are out of work due to the virus, including independent contractors, those who don’t have long enough work histories, those who had to quit work to care for a child whose school closed, and more, so the actually number of people out of work is higher than today’s’ data show us. One of the most effective parts of the CARES ACT, the relief and recovery act that Congress passed last week, is a $250 billion expansion of unemployment insurance, including an increase in the level of benefits and the creation of a Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program which will be available to many workers who are not eligible for regular unemployment insurance. These provisions are very important and will help millions. However, the broader stimulus package contains many weaknesses that reduce its effectiveness, which is regrettable because the job loss we have seen so far is just the tip of the iceberg. Based on new GDP forecasts, we project that nearly 20 million workers will be laid off or furloughed by July, with losses in every state. And importantly, the GDP forecasts these projections are based on include the impact of the CARES Act and they assume that Congress will pass another relief package focused on aid to states. That implies that far more than 20 million workers will be laid off or furloughed if there is not another meaningful relief and recovery bill.

It’s important to step back from today’s UI numbers and remember that this labor market crisis didn’t have to happen. Due to failed leadership, we twice missed the chance to avert widespread job loss. Now policymakers must act to avoid greater damage. Given the incredible deterioration of the labor market in a matter of weeks, federal policymakers will absolutely need to come back and provide more desperately needed relief, and more support for the recovery once the lockdown is over.

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Russia’s urgent dispatch of counter-COVID aid to America was both symbolic and substantial in the sense that it improved the country’s reputation among average Americans which in turn advances Trump’s years-long case for a “New Detente” between these two Great Powers.

It was Rahm Emmanuel who said the state should never let a “good crisis go to waste.”

In regard to Iran, the neocons will not let the COVID-19 “crisis” go to waste. It is a perfect cover for escalating tension with the Islamic Republic. 

It is more than obvious the geopolitical ignoramus Donald Trump is under the influence of a gaggle of neocons chomping at the bit to kill tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of Iranians. 

Upon information and belief, Iran or its proxies are planning a sneak attack on U.S. troops and/or assets in Iraq. If this happens, Iran will pay a very heavy price, indeed!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 1, 2020

“Trump, who did not detail the plot, made the threat less than an hour after receiving a foreign intelligence briefing at the White House,” reported USA Today. “Later at a briefing, Trump said the intelligence indicating an attack was sound.” 

Iranian-backed militias in Iraq continually threaten to attack U.S. and allied forces, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly. Threats arrive in a daily stream.

Some of the more visible threats have been issued by the Kataib Hezbollah militia, the group responsible for rocket attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq that have killed American troops and contractors.

Iraqis have repeatedly and overwhelmingly demanded the US occupation forces leave the country, a demand rejected by Trump and his neocon foreign policy controllers. 

From FRN: 

Iraq’s parliament last month [January, 2020] voted to have the US troops removed from the country, heeding a call from former Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi to take urgent measures and end the presence of the foreign forces as soon as possible.

The Iraqi Parliament passed a resolution to work to end the foreign troop presence in the Arab country in the wake of a US targeted assassination of a top Iranian general and a commander of Iraqi popular forces.

“U.S. intelligence out of the Middle East suggests that Iran or Iran-backed forces are planning a potentially serious attack against U.S. military personnel in Iraq, said officials monitoring the information,” The War Street Journal reported on April Fools Day.

The late CIA whistleblower Victor Marchetti documented how the agency has specialized in lies and deception since its inception in the late 1940s.  As a special assistant to the Deputy Director of the CIA,  Marchetti knew a thing or two about the role played by US intelligence, its pathological lies, and obsessive-compulsive secrecy.  

The real reason for the official secrecy, in most instances, is not to keep the opposition (the CIA’s euphemistic term for the enemy) from knowing what is going on; the enemy usually does know. The basic reason for governmental secrecy is to keep you, the American public, from knowing—for you, too, are considered the opposition, or enemy—so that you cannot interfere. When the public does not know what the government or the CIA is doing, it cannot voice its approval or disapproval of their actions. In fact, they can even lie to you about what they are doing or have done, and you will not know it.

Due to an avalanche of lies and distortions issued by the state and the corporate media’s dutiful stenographic repetition of war propaganda, omission of facts, distortions of reality, and endless demonization of official enemies, many Americans are unable to see what should be more than obvious—the rocket attacks on illegal US bases in Iraq following a lawful order by the Iraqi government demanding US troops leave the country are a completely justified and warranted response to a never-ending occupation. 

Ignored is the historical fact Shi’as in Iran and Iraq share religious and cultural ties and have done so for centuries, well before the region was carved up by Britain and France following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. 

Iran’s Major General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri told The Tehran Times the rocket attacks on US bases are a “normal reaction by the Iraqi people and resistance forces against U.S. ‘satanic measures’… Americans are well aware that the people of the region and the dear people of Iraq are opposed to their military presence in these countries and it is their normal reaction.” 

Now that the American people are consumed with fear and loathing of an overblown virus “pandemic,” the neocons around Trump see a chance to finally and decisively deal with Iran—not simply by blocking humanitarian aid but also piling on more sanctions and, possibly within a matter of days or weeks, attacking Shi’a militias in Iraq and possibly launching a long-promised direct military attack on Iran proper. 

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Kurt Nimmo writes on his blog, Another Day in the Empire, where this article was originally published. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research.

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Year: 2015

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Syria’s Ambassador to the UN Bashar al-Ja’afari has reiterated a call by his country for immediate and unconditional lifting of all US economic sanctions, a few days after the coronavirus killed the first patient in the Arab country. 

In a letter to UN chief Antonio Guterres and president of the UN Security Council Zhang Jun, Ja’afari lambasted remarks by US State Department official James Jeffrey who accused Damascus Monday of using “cynical ploys” and urged Syrians to “count” on Washington in “delivering humanitarian assistance to people in need”.

Ja’afari said such “irresponsible and misleading” comments by US officials “are just an attempt to cover the US crimes and violations against the sovereignty, independence and safety of the Syrian territories and against the security, peace and prosperity of the Syrian people”.

The senior Syrian diplomat also said that since 1979, Washington has been imposing arrays of unilateral and crippling economic sanctions against Syria, whose impact have been particularly aggravating since 2011 when a foreign-backed militancy began in the country.

He said the previous as well as the current US administrations have issued at least eight executive orders on further tightening the economic blockade on the Syrian nation.

Ja’afari said the unprecedented economic embargoes on Syria’s banking, energy, investment, import, export, communications and the air, sea and land transport sectors are all imposed with the aim of depriving the Syrians of their basic rights.

The US economic sanctions have devastating impacts on Syria and moved its ranking in the Human Development Index to the list of the least developed countries in the Human Development Report 2016, Ja’afari further said.

Such coercive measure, he added, have disrupted the process of delivering humanitarian aid to Syrians and undermined their ability to meet their basic needs.

Elsewhere in the letter, the Syrian envoy to the UN said the Arab country is facing an additional pressure in curbing the new pandemic, which demands implementing urgent measures by Damascus “to provide the basic infrastructure and the necessary potentials for the health sector”.

The COVID-19 disease, caused by a new coronavirus, jumped from wildlife to people in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year and is currently affecting 203 countries and territories across the globe. It has so far affected more than 955,400 people and killed over 48,580.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has already declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic.

Official figures by the Syrian government show that as of Thursday, 10 people have tested positive for COVID-19 and two others have lost their lives so far.

Ja’afari condemned “hostile” US polices against Syria as a flagrant violation of the UN Charter and of the principles of international law, particularly during the current pandemic.

He also called for the immediate withdrawal of US troops from all the Syrian territories, particularly its oil and gas fields, in order to allow Damascus to commence the process of reconstruction and rehabilitation of oil and gas plants and to use the income “for the interest of the Syrian people exclusively”.

Damascus “affirms that it has mobilized all of its available human, medical and food resources to serve all the Syrians wherever they are in the face of this global pandemic”, Ja’afari said.

“Any collective and international effort for curbing the spread of this dangerous pandemic cannot be accomplished in light of the continuity of the policy of imposing economic siege by some governments, including the US, on more than two billion people in our world,” he said.

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Being completely and responsibly aware of the seriousness and danger of the current pandemic, and supporting all rational and necessary public health policy measures, which do not harm more than they help the people and their livelihood, and following them fully in our countries of residence.

And even more being alarmed and horrified by the endless flow of appeals and calls for help from our families and friends in Serbia, warning us of the coup d’état that took place in Serbia; the physical and mental terrorization of the entire population there; the chaos in the health care system, caused by the incompetence and corruption by the ruling party; the impending famine and life-threatening shortages of medication caused by the impending 24/7 curfew, and after having done all in our power so far, by sending money to our families and friends as soon as the pandemic was announced (which is what we have done for decades regularly, in terms of billions of US Dollars annually).

We, Serbs from the diaspora, and our non-Serbian friends who support and care about the state and the people of Serbia ask and demand that you pressure Aleksandar Vucic, the irrational and dangerous individual who, unfortunately and tragically, is the current president of Serbia and the usurper of all power and institutions of that state, to immediately stop taking advantage of the pandemic to terrorize and mistreat the citizens of the country of Serbia, as well as the numerous refugees and migrants who got stuck there, by his totalitarian rule, hysterical and panic-inducing behavior, and incompetence in basic health public policy implementation by his party membership, which care more for pleasing the morbid dictator than for the health and wellbeing of the citizens.

Just a few examples will provide evidence about the danger of further keeping of this individual in power there:

Although the world was well aware of the pandemic, Aleksandar Vucic continued to press a vast number of citizens into obligatory attendance in his election rallies – it was especially evident in the town of Valjevo, where state-owned enterprises’ laborers had to greet him in the middle of the pandemic, which caused the town of Valjevo to be among the three greatest centers of the epidemic in spite of its relative remoteness and small size. His party machine forced hundreds of thousands of people to endure its door-to-door signature gathering in the early days of the epidemic, causing the spread of the virus throughout the country!

During his constant and unnecessary TV appearances at the time of the tragedy in Italy, Aleksandar Vucic had lined up a number of obedient and cowardly health officials and they all downplayed the tragedy of the people in Italy, making fun of the panic-stricken human beings everywhere, and recommending a shopping spree in Milan due to its lack of tourists! It wasn’t only embarrassing to the citizens of Serbia but excessively cruel and sadistic too!

Once Aleksandar Vucic became aware of the seriousness of the pandemic, he publicly panicked, held endless incoherent, perplexing and totally unnecessary press conferences, and caused distress among the population, especially among the senior citizens of Serbia (to whom he announced that Serbia’s cemeteries shall not be big enough to bury them), as well as transferred the blame for the infections appearing in Serbia onto Serbian citizens returning home from abroad (where they went in search for jobs, which they lost because of Vucic’s incompetence and corruption in Serbia), never accepting the fact that he and his party and government officials had visited the infected areas in the US, the EU and China, and returned to Serbia without any quarantine or any other precaution in order to ensure the safety of anyone around them. The returning citizens of Serbia were accused of bringing the pandemic into the country although no quarantine measures were introduced at the points of entry, and no advice was given by the government regarding self-isolation and/or any other methods of preventing infection. When they were belatedly introduced, they were inhumane and incompetent, causing more possible infections than preventing them!

Aleksandar Vucic had prohibited anyone over 65 years of age from leaving her/his place of residence, without providing any organized and meaningful care for such citizens, regardless of their family, financial and/or health situation. He also imposed an unnecessarily long curfew on all citizens of the country without any adequate measures to provide food and/or medicine to the people in need but started fining those caught in “breaking” the rules (mostly out of necessity!) by issuing them citations up to 10 times of the value of the average monthly income of a typical Serbian family. He even prohibited going out to walk dogs while, at the same time, throughout this period, keeping the sports betting places, gambling dens and mini-casinos open, since these are the major income-generating operations for his party, and money laundering mechanisms for his corrupt mafia apparatchiks.

Aleksandar Vucic has even closed green markets all over Serbia, depriving the impoverished masses of affordable nourishment and the farmers at least some income to survive through these harsh times. He has imposed a curfew even on the peasant population in barely populated Serbia’s villages – preventing the farmers to go to their fields during the most crucial season for food production. This will most certainly cause a famine in the months to come – most citizens of Serbia cannot afford to pay the imported food today, let alone the inflated prices after the pandemic ends.

Aleksandar Vucic’s regime has started arresting opposition politicians (ineffective as they are!), such as the Republican Party leader, in addition to depriving them of participating in the sessions of the Parliament (which was unconstitutionally suspended) and/or appearing in the media, which are now completely under his control.       

We demand that Aleksandar Vucic be pressured to:

1. Return the power to the legitimate institution of the Republic, which should manage this crisis together with medical experts and not by a panic-stricken madman;

2. Resign and allow for the formation of the National Unity and Salvation Government, which will implement proper and adequate measures to get Serbia through this crisis and establish the framework for the elections for the new Constitutional Assembly to recreate democracy and normal political, social and economic life for all the citizens and nationalities of Serbia.

We insist that NO ONE from any of the previous governments and/or Parliaments (either from the so-called “in power” parties or the “opposition” ones) may be included in the new government, and that DIASPORA SERBS MUST BE INCLUDED in it.

This is urgent and absolutely morally obligatory since this madman is about to impose a 24/7 curfew upon the impoverished and already weakened population there, and cause irreparable damage to the state and the economy, and a long-term national tragedy manyfold worse than any virus or war could. Aleksandar Vucic – not the virus – is the supreme danger to the human race there.

The same is true for the criminal and totalitarian regime in Montenegro, under Milo Djukanovic, which has abused the situation to suppress political opposition and non-obedient nationalities and religious communities in that mini-state, as well as for the Bosnia-Herzegovina Sarajevo based officials, dominated by the 1990s Islamist radicals and corrupt incompetents, who have postponed health-protection measures only because the Serbian Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina entity government had proposed them first.

If no serious and immediate pressure is brought upon these officials, especially on Aleksandar Vucic, the situation in the Balkans will deteriorate beyond control and might result in a human tragedy much worse than all the wars in the 1990s.

Thank you for your help and humane concern!

Your citizen and voter,

Višeslav Simić – Professor of Public Policy, Governing Strategy and State and Economy at Tec de Monterrey, Mexico. Ph.D. in Public Policy; Master in International Cooperation in Emergency Situations & Humanitarian Projects Management; B.A. in Diplomacy and International Relations.

The Trump administration is dispatching US Navy warships to the Caribbean Sea in an effort to turn up the pressure on Venezuela.

The initiative was announced by President Donald Trump and other high ranking officials in a press conference Wednesday.

The move is allegedly part of a wider “anti-narcotics” operation in the region, which in addition to Navy destroyers will reportedly involve AWAC surveillance aircraft and on-ground special forces units. The Associated Press reported that the operation is one of the largest in the region since the 1989 invasion of Panama.

“We must not let malign actors exploit the [coronavirus] situation for their own gain,” Trump said.

The military deployment came on the heels of the Department of Justice (DoJ) levying “narco-terrorism” charges against top-ranking Venezuelan officials, as well as a “democratic transition” plan unveiled by the State Department.

On March 26, the DoJ accused President Nicolas Maduro, National Constituent Assembly Diosdado Cabello and several other officials of conspiring with FARC rebels to “flood” the US with cocaine.

Critics have pointed to the dearth of concrete evidence implicating top Venezuelan leaders and to the fact that data from US agencies shows that only a small fraction of drug routes pass through Venezuela, with most cocaine entering US territory via Central America and Mexico.

A map produced by the US Southern Command shows the main drug-smuggling routes in Latin America connecting Colombia and Ecuador with Guatemala and Mexico via the Pacific Ocean.

On Tuesday, the State Department unveiled a “framework for a peaceful democratic transition in Venezuela,” calling for Maduro’s resignation and the establishment of a transition government headed by opposition and Chavista officials to oversee new elections.

The Trump administration pledged to lift sanctions against Venezuelan individuals and key economic sectors, but only after Maduro left office and all security agreements with Russia and Cuba were terminated.

The US has vowed to ramp up unilateral sanctions until the Maduro administration accepts the deal.

For its part, the Venezuelan government blasted the military deployment, with Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez calling it “an attempt to attack Venezuela with lies and threats.”

Rodriguez added that Venezuela has “robust” anti-narcotics policies and would be ready to “coordinate” actions against drug trafficking in the region.

Washington’s naval operation comes days after the controversial sinking of a Venezuelan coast guard boat off the coast of the Caribbean island of La Tortuga.

According to the Venezuelan Ministry of Defense, the patrol ship “Naiguata” located a Portuguese cruise ship, the “RCGS Resolute,” in Venezuelan territorial waters and ordered the vessel to accompany it to port. The “Resolute” allegedly refused the instructions and proceeded to ram the “Naiguata,” which subsequently sank as a result of the impact.

The cruise ship owner, Columbia Cruise Services, has disputed this account, insisting that the “Resolute” was “subject to an act of aggression by the Venezuelan Navy in international waters,” while carrying no passengers.

On Wednesday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro suggested the ship “was being used to transport mercenaries.” He also claimed that “someone from the north called” to prevent Dutch authorities from inspecting the “Resolute” at its current mooring in the Curacao port of Willemstad.

Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva, for his part, has pledged to collaborate with Venezuela and Holland in the investigation of the “unfortunate” incident.

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Things often look the way they do because someone claiming authority tells us they look that way. If that sounds too cynical, pause for a moment and reflect on what seemed most important to you just a year ago, or even a few weeks ago. 

Then, you may have been thinking that Russian interference in western politics was a vitally important issue, and something that we needed to invest much of our emotional and political energy in countering. Or maybe a few weeks ago you felt that everything would be fine if we could just get Donald Trump out of the White House. Or maybe you imagined that Brexit was the panacea to Britain’s problems – or, conversely, that it would bring about the UK’s downfall.

Still feel that way?

After all, much as we might want to (and doubtless some will try), we can’t really blame Vladimir Putin, or Russian troll farms spending a few thousand dollars on Facebook advertising, for the coronavirus pandemic. Much as we might want to, we can’t really blame Trump for the catastrophic condition of the privatised American health care system, totally ill-equipped and unprepared for a nationwide health emergency. And as tempting as it is for some of us, we can’t really blame Europe’s soft borders and immigrants for the rising death toll in the UK. It was the global economy and cheap travel that brought the virus into Britain, and it was the Brexit-loving prime minister Boris Johnson who dithered as the epidemic took hold.

The bigger picture

Is it possible that only a few weeks ago our priorities were just a little divorced from a bigger reality? That what appeared to be the big picture was not actually big enough? That maybe we should have been thinking about even more important, pressing matters – systemic ones like the threat of a pandemic of the very kind we are currently enduring.

Because while we were all thinking about Russiagate or Trump or Brexit, there were lots of experts – even the Pentagon, it seems – warning of just such a terrible calamity and urging that preparations be made to avoid it. We are in the current mess precisely because those warnings were ignored or given no attention – not because the science was doubted, but because there was no will to do something to avert the threat.

If we reflect, it is possible to get a sense of two things. First, that our attention rarely belongs to us; it is the plaything of others. And second, that the “real world”, as it is presented to us, rarely reflects anything we might usefully be able to label as objective reality. It is a set of political, economic and social priorities that have been manufactured for us.

Agents outside our control with their own vested interests – politicians, the media, business – construct reality, much as a film-maker designs a movie. They guide our gaze in certain directions and not others.

A critical perspective 

At a moment like this of real crisis, one that overshadows all else, we have a chance – though only a chance – to recognise this truth and develop our own critical perspective. A perspective that truly belongs to us, and not to others.

Think back to the old you, the pre-coronavirus you. Were your priorities the same as your current ones?

This is not to say that the things you prioritise now – in this crisis – are necessarily any more “yours” than the old set of priorities.

If you’re watching the TV or reading newspapers – and who isn’t – you’re probably feeling scared, either for yourself or for your loved ones. All you can think about is the coronavirus. Nothing else really seems that important by comparison. And all you can hope for is the moment when the lockdowns are over and life returns to normal.

But that’s not objectively the “real world” either. Terrible as the coronavirus is, and as right as anyone is to be afraid of the threat it poses, those “agents of authority” are again directing and controlling our gaze, though at least this time those in authority include doctors and scientists. And they are guiding our attention in ways that serve their interests – for good or bad.

Endless tallies of infections and deaths, rocketing graphs, stories of young people, along with the elderly, battling for survival serve a purpose: to make sure we stick to the lockdown, that we maintain social distancing, that we don’t get complacent and spread the disease.

Here our interests – survival, preventing hospitals from being overwhelmed – coincide with those of the establishment, the “agents of authority”. We want to live and prosper, and they need to maintain order, to demonstrate their competence, to prevent dissatisfaction bubbling up into anger or open revolt.

Crowded out by detail 

But again the object of our attention is not as much ours as we may believe. While we focus on graphs, while we twitch the curtains to see if neighbours are going for a second run or whether families are out in the garden celebrating a birthday distant from an elderly parent, we are much less likely to be thinking about how well the crisis is being handled. The detail, the mundane is again crowding out the important, the big picture.

Our current fear is an enemy to our developing and maintaining a critical perspective. The more we are frightened by graphs, by deaths, the more we are likely to submit to whatever we are told will keep us safe.

Under cover of the public’s fear, and of justified concerns about the state of the economy and future employment, countries like the US are transferring huge sums of public money to the biggest corporations. Politicians controlled by big business and media owned by big business are pushing through this corporate robbery without scrutiny – and for reasons that should be self-explanatory. They know our attention is too overwhelmed by the virus for us to assess intentionally mystifying arguments about the supposed economic benefits, about yet more illusory trickle-down.

There are many other dramatic changes being introduced, almost too many and too rapidly for us to follow them properly. Bans on movement. Intensified surveillance. Censorship. The transfer of draconian powers to the police, and preparations for the deployment of soldiers on streets. Detention without trial. Martial law. Measures that might have terrified us when Trump was our main worry, or Brexit, or Russia, may now seem a price worth paying for a “return to normality”.

Paradoxically, a craving for the old-normal may mean we are prepared to submit to a new-normal that could permanently deny us any chance of returning to the old-normal.

The point is not just that things are far more provisional than most of us are ready to contemplate; it’s that our window on what we think of as “the real world”, as “normal”, is almost entirely manufactured for us.

Distracted by the virus 

Strange as this may sound right now, in the midst of our fear and suffering, the pandemic is not really the big picture either. Our attention is consumed by the virus, but it is, in a truly awful sense, a distraction too.

In a few more years, maybe sooner than we imagine, we will look back on the virus – with the benefit of distance and hindsight – and feel the same way about it we do now about Putin, or Trump, or Brexit.

It will feel part of our old selves, our old priorities, a small part of a much bigger picture, a clue to where we were heading, a portent we did not pay attention to when it mattered most.

The virus is one small warning – one among many – that we have been living out of sync with the natural world we share with other life. Our need to control and dominate, our need to acquire, our need for security, our need to conquer death – they have crowded out all else. We have followed those who promised quick, easy solutions, those who refused to compromise, those who conveyed authority, those who spread fear, those who hated.

If only we could redirect our gaze, if we could seize back control of our attention for a moment, we might understand that we are being plagued not just by a virus but by our fear, our hate, our hunger, our selfishness. The evidence is there in the fires, the floods and the disease, in the insects that have disappeared, in the polluted seas, in the stripping of the planet’s ancient lungs, its forests, in the melting ice-caps.

The big picture is hiding in plain sight, no longer obscured by issues like Russia and Brexit but now only by the most microscopic germ, marking the thin boundary between life and death.

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This essay first appeared on Jonathan Cook’s blog.

Cook won the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. His books include “Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East” (Pluto Press) and “Disappearing Palestine: Israel’s Experiments in Human Despair” (Zed Books). His website is www.jonathan-cook.net. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research.

As the gold market continues to deal with global liquidity issues, and virus-lockdown-related disruptions between paper and physical pricing as extremely high physical demand creates shortages, Russia made a surprise announcement on Monday.

Starting April 1, Russia will be suspending its domestic gold purchases:

“Since April 1, 2020, the Bank of Russia has suspended the purchase of gold in the domestic precious metals market.

Further decisions on the purchase of gold will be made depending on the development of the situation in the financial market…”Russia’s central bank said.

In recent years, as Kitco notes, the Russian central bank has dominated the gold market, consistently increasing its gold reserves every month for the last three years. According to data from the World Gold Council, the Russian central bank bought 158.1 tons last year. The WGC data shows that the central bank bought 8.1 tons of gold in January.

Although Russia will not be adding to its gold reserves in the near future, analysts are not expecting the central bank to start selling its gold anytime soon.

So the question is – why is Russia stopping its domestic purchases? We see four main possibilities…

1) Russia reached a limit on the relative size of gold reserves to overall reserves…

Gold accounts for over 20% of Russian international reserves, which is a high level historically and compared with other central banks.

“The central bank probably doesn’t want to increase gold’s share in reserves, while the size of reserves is falling,” said Tatiana Evdokimova, an analyst at Nordea Bank in Moscow.

2) Ease tightness in global gold markets

This would have a manifold benefit by helping enable increased ownership of physical precious metals around the world, and potentially supporting the case for more de-dollarization.

It would also reduce the huge premiums that are being paid for physical gold (why would they want to pay up for it).

3) Offer domestic producers profit opportunities

As we have detailed previously, even though there’s literally thousands of tons of gold bars sitting in vaults around the world, it’s been hard to get metal when and where it’s needed, and so premiums for physical bullion is extreme to say the least.

Given the huge physical premiums in precious metals (and a plunge in crude profits for the nation), it would make sense to enable producers to sell into global markets at a sizable profit

“The central bank is now signaling to gold sellers that they should redirect their supplies externally,” said Dmitry Dolgin, ING Bank’s chief economist in Russia. “Global demand seems to be high.”

4) They no longer like gold…

This seems unlikely, as Bloomberg notes, Russia’s relentless gold buying in recent years has been a key pillar of support for the market, putting a floor under prices as investors ditched safe havens and bought riskier, higher-yielding assets.

The bullion stockpile held by Russia’s central bank is valued at about $120 billion.

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So why is Russia ending its domestic purchases when the rest of the world is piling in? Perhaps they see what’s coming and are fully prepared…

What will $120 billion (at current prices) be worth when the dollar dies?

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All images in this article are from Zero Hedge

The world has gone amok. In fact, the world has been amok for decades, but COVID-19 has laid bare for all to see the pretenses, political fairytales, socio-economic and geopolitical travesties and bloodletting of the uber-powerful. It also provides the ideological pretext for massively expanding ongoing pandemics, particularly the exacerbation of long-enduring scourges, the POVERTY PANDEMIC, the DECOMPOSITION OF THE STATE and REGIME CHANGE MANIA. They have caused and will generate exponentially more suffering and death than COVID. Be that as it may, COVID is exploits and exposes the debilitating effects on our health infrastructure and economic/social systems of these other longstanding, billionaire-engineered pandemics.

The assault on the public policy and services apparatus is man-made and deliberate, including the weakening of its capacity to fight COVID. This pandemonium is occurring, not only overseas but right in our own inner-cities, the First Nations, our rural communities, our suburbs and our long-term care homes. COVID’s one positive attribute is that it shines a billion bright candles on the hollowing-out, for the benefit of the very few, of our collective health and other life-essential institutions.

Iron Maiden Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, at the bidding of the uber-rich and powerful, launched the neo-liberal agenda of dismantling the social and economic fabrics of continents. The Bushes, Clintons, Tony Blair, Stephen Harper and Barack Obama and their billionaire sponsors accelerated this process and compounded it through endless wars, mind-bending color revolutions and illegal regime change operations. Rust Maiden Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s de-facto prime minister of foreign policy, made this ideological war her own and took it to dizzying heights.

Why Rust-Maiden-Chrystia-Freeland, one might ask? Because everything she meddles with turns to rust and dust. And she meddles a lot, at home and abroad. Let us count the ways.

Chrystia Freeland blocks a team of Cuban doctors from coming to Manitoba First Nations to provide emergency medical assistance. This, despite the fact that First Nations communities are drastically underserved, left with no defenses against the virus. According to a Manitoba Chief, “Canada does not have enough health care workers to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and to address the numbers of upcoming cases in First Nation communities”. Ms. Freeland’s excuse for her blockage: “Canada’s health care system, which is staffed by outstanding health care professionals, has the capacity to deal with this extraordinary challenge”.

First Nations know Freeland’s statements to be patently misleading; the health system is already unable to care for the general population and COVID-19 may become an acute humanitarian issue for their peoples, given that their life expectancy and other social indicators are already much worse than Canada’s average. Member of Parliament Niki Ashton takes Freeland to task. “First Nations are not getting the support they need,” she says. “Some communities are having their doctors pulled. Many can’t do the testing. Others need field hospitals urgently. There’s no time to wait.” Prime Minister’s Trudeau’s National Reconciliation, as delivered by Freeland, goes beyond willful neglect.

Cuba’s Interferon Alpha 2B is a proven drug to treat COVID-19. It is a key contributor to China’s Coronavirus success story and is used to positive effect in Italy and many other countries around the world. Yet Canada still claims that there is no cure for COVID-19. Why are PM Justin Trudeau, Ms. Freeland and the Canadian/American pharmaceutical industry, with the help of the necrolytic mainstream media echo-chamber, pontificating that there is no cure, all the while rejecting Interferon Alpha 2B. Because Big Pharma wants the exclusivity of COVID-19 vaccines with decades-long patents even if it will take them 12 to 18 months to develop them. Why deprive Canadians of the Interferon Alpha 2B life-saving treatment, given that Canada could quickly draw up a joint agreement? Why is the Trudeau/Freeland tandem so Cuba-averse all of a sudden? Another vital relationship is rusting, if not biting the dust, on the altar of USA sanctions.

Neither Rust Maiden Freeland nor PM Trudeau are calling out the White House cabal for blocking vital Coronavirus equipment from getting into Cuba? Why are they embarrassing all Canadians by being silent and complicit in the US siege against Cuba, blocking food and the entry of all manner of other life-essential products from entering or leaving Cuba? Ever since Justin Trudeau was cowed into reversing himself after praising Fidel Castro when he died, our PM has been at the beck and call of Washington. That day, Canada’s Foreign Policy, as fashioned by Pierre Trudeau among others, died.

Chrystia Freeland, under the orders of the captains of industry, mining and finance, has been the Conductor-in-Chief of the Lima Group Orchestra and of the Guaidó Folly; Guaidó was unceremoniously dumped two days ago by Pompeo. While Trump is going apoplectic about COVID-19 and desperately trying to divert attention by threatening fire and brimstone against Venezuela with warships, fighter jets and death-spewing drones, Rust Maiden Chrystia Freeland is cheering him on and working hard at tightening the noose around the necks of all Venezuelans; further compounded by her supporting the International Monetary Fund’s refusal to lone Venezuela the crucial funds it needs to defend against COFID-19. Her actions and Trudeau’s acquiescence ensure that the Venezuelans’ “to dust thou shalt return” occurs prematurely.

Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland have boosted the oppression of Palestinians via absolute support for the Israeli Zionist Apartheid Regime and the silencing of the human rights opposition, in Canada and abroad, including supporting the heinous blocking of life-saving COVID equipment into Gaza. Freeland conceals Saudi Arabia’s murdering of tens of thousands of Yemenis (over 100,000 war dead, plus 85,000 children dead from malnutrition, with another 14 million Yemenis on the brink of famine, according to the UN). These horrifying numbers don’t even take into account the deadly havoc that COVID-19 will visit on these greatly weakened populations. Chrystia Freeland also feeds the ignominious crime-against-humanity dictatorship that is Saudi Arabia by supplying Export Development Canada resources (our taxes at work) and approving killing-machine contracts. This is the regime that, let’s not forget, is also one of the architects of the present drastic collapse of oil prices that is crippling Alberta’s economy. When will Premier Jason Kenny call out Freeland and Trudeau on this? He won’t of course because Saudi Arabia is made of the same cloth.

Rust Maiden Chrystia Freeland chooses ideology over economic sanity and urgently needed medical treatment capacity, precisely at the time when COVID-19 is at its worst. Her actions internationally and domestically are undermining some of the laudable efforts that her own government is making to fight COVID-19. Prime Minister Trudeau has a decision to make.

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This article was originally published in December 2019.

One has to wonder how much money it would take for the New York Fed to throw at Wall Street before the New York Times reports to its readers on the biggest Wall Street bailout by the Fed since the financial crisis.

Last Thursday, December 12, the New York Fed announced that over the next month it would shower the trading houses (primary dealers) on Wall Street with a total of $2.93 trillion in short-term loans. The money is for a Wall Street liquidity crisis that has yet to be explained in credible terms to the American people and yet the New York Times does not appear to have an investigative reporter assigned to investigate what’s really going on just 11 years after those same trading houses blew themselves up in the biggest financial crash since the Great Depression and took the U.S. economy along for the ride.

The New York Fed’s repo (repurchase agreement) loan program began on September 17 when repo loan rates spiked from approximately 2 percent to 10 percent – meaning either liquid funds were not available to loan or the mega banks on Wall Street were backing away from lending to certain counterparties. Repo loans are typically between banks, hedge funds and money market funds on an overnight basis and are made against good-quality collateral. Since that time, the New York Fed has been making these loans to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars weekly.

The New York Times covered the subject in September. Then an eerie silence took hold in October and November as the Fed continued to pump out over $3 trillion in cumulative loans to Wall Street’s trading houses. On December 8 and December 12, the New York Times simply ran articles by Reuters on the Fed’s loans, which are the first of their kind since the financial crisis.

The $2.93 trillion that the New York Fed will funnel to Wall Street over the next month consists of up to $120 billion each weekday in overnight loans through January 14 and $440 billion in term loans ranging from 3-days to 32 days. In addition, during the last week of the year (on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) the Fed will bump up its overnight loan offerings to $150 billion from $120 billion, thus providing an additional $90 billion that week.

Adding to the suggestion that liquidity remains tight on Wall Street despite the Fed’s loans, the New York Fed offered a $50 billion 32-day term loan this morning and it was oversubscribed by $4.25 billion.

To read complete article on wallstreetonparade.com click here

Dow Jones Industrial Average, September 17, 2019 through December 13, 2019

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There was never any doubt. However, February 4, 2019 in Caracas, constituted an opportunity for me to briefly shake hands with Nicolás Maduro, to fleetingly gaze into the former bus driver’s humble eyes, and then listen to him address a small, intimate foreign delegation. In this unique setting, one’s political and personal appreciation skyrocketed to a new qualitative level. Today, glancing (and cringing in anger it must be admitted) at the false U.S. charges against Maduro, preferring not to transcribe the ugly words on paper so as to maintain the purity of the written sentiment already almost impossible to put into words, the accusations are patently unbelievable.

Analyzing the phoney charges, not from the legal/judicial point of view, but rather from a moral/political optic, a person characterized by these false accusations would be one who is completely individualist. It would concern a person guided and consumed by the unique and exclusive goal of serving oneself by amassing a fortune. The pursuit of an egotistical lifestyle driven by the goal of accumulating the profits arising from the criminal activities being alleged constitutes the epitome of the values at the very base of capitalism and imperialism. Part of that moribund system with no future, now consumed by its own individualism, indicating to what extent such selfishness may even lead to self-destruction, and have no qualms at all of bringing down others in its wake, as we saw in World War II.

However, the Nicolás Maduro I heard speak on February 4, 2019, from a very close vantage point, personified the very opposite of individualism. The encounter took place only a few weeks after the first coup attempt led by the U.S. and the Lima group. He spoke to us for about two hours. His complete devotion to the cause of the Bolivarian Revolution, Venezuelan sovereignty, the legacy and teachings of Commander Hugo Chávez was unmistakable. The audience was riveted, and as far as the author of these lines is concerned, it could only be compared to the magnetic attraction of a Fidel Castro, laced as it was with Fidel’s style of sincerity and coherent logic, and an appropriate mix of seriousness and humour.

As far as the themes Maduro touched upon, one that stood out that day and which takes on even more importance in view of today’s false accusations, was Venezuela’s civic-military union. This subject takes on further significance now because it is central to the success of Maduro’s stance since January 2019. It has clearly frustrated the U.S. to the point of taking this latest desperate step. Returning to the Caracas meeting, Maduro took the audience through what seemed to be every step of the meetings he had held across the country, and an on-the-spot check-up of all sectors of the armed forces, as well as with the militia and local social organizations. It was as if we were there with him. He embodied the notion of being just one more soldier among the millions of Venezuelans ready to give his life to defend their cause.

Ready to sacrifice his life? Yes, this is the impression he left. Only several months later there was in fact a U.S.-inspired assassination attempt against him. However, he survived and bounced back to work. In fact, since January 2019 and leading up to March 26, 2020, when a bounty was placed on his head, just like in the old Wild West, there has been an unprecedented, non-stop media campaign, attempting to conduct a political and psychological war against Maduro, coupled with further coup attempts.

History has catapulted Maduro into a unique position. He has become, so to speak, a “martyr” in his own lifetime, such is his heroic resistance to the U.S.-led alliance aiming to smash him and the Bolivarian Revolution. Thus, when Cuban colleague Iroel Sánchez “nominated” Maduro as “Man of the Year” for 2019, irrespective of Time magazine preferences, it rang a bell. Maduro’s ability to seemingly enjoy the “cat’s nine lives” throughout 2019 “endorsed” this nomination. From January 2019 to March 26, 2020, how many times was he supposed to have been eliminated?

The evolution of this incessant U.S.-led offensive against Maduro, and the heroic and historical resistance, served to further embody the notion that Maduro is completely and selflessly devoted to the common good of Venezuela. It seems evident that Maduro’s personal conviction is that he would die only with a rifle in his hand defending Venezuela, if it would ever come to that. This altruistic quality is diametrically opposed to the selfish individualism embedded in capitalism, which is the basis of the type of charges falsely imputed to Maduro.

Can anyone seriously imagine that someone completely devoted to the collective well-being of his people, including making the ultimate sacrifice if necessary, would in any way be involved in the alleged underground illicit activities?

Does this evaluation take the issue too far by personalizing Maduro? It is obviously just to assert that one should oppose the U.S. attempts to overthrow Maduro by any means necessary, irrespective of what one thinks of Maduro. However, on March 26, 2020, the U.S., by putting a bounty on his head, is forcing world public opinion to take a stand on Maduro. This is a good situation because it forces the issue of Maduro to emerge in public, front and center. The historical evolution since Maduro was first elected president in 2013, demonstrates that the leading antidote to the U.S. goal of regime change for Venezuela, is President Nicolás Maduro himself.

The author of these lines has never been a great fan of those who claim to defend the Bolivarian Revolution and Venezuela’s right to self-determination and sovereignty, while smuggling in establishment buzzword narratives of “authoritarian government” and “dubious elections” in reference to Maduro.” Of course, they have a right to their opinion and their verbal support for Venezuela’s right to self-determination is most welcome. However, by providing credibility to the U.S. narrative, does this not do more harm than good, providing as it does a “respectable” cover for the U.S. narrative as a pretext foreign intervention? After all, in the indictment, the very first sentence describes “the former Maduro regime.”

Whether one likes it or not, especially since the bounty has been put on his head, the leadership which has maintained Venezuela’s sovereignty is definitively embodied in the person of Maduro. He also allows Venezuela to go to any negotiating table from a position of strength, rather than on its knees. As far as progressives are concerned, is there a middle ground between Maduro on the one hand and the defence of Venezuela’s right to self-determination on the other?

Why not just tell the truth, turn the tables on the U.S. and state that the alleged crimes against Maduro are exclusive to the U.S. and its capitalist system, from which the Bolivarian Revolution and its present leader, Nicolás Maduro, are immune? History has proven this. As the saying goes, the best defence is an offence.

It is time for Canadians to once again go on the offensive, even in the current difficult conditions caused by Covid-19. After all, it is obvious that the Trump administration is sadistically counting on the spread of the virus in Venezuela and the fact that this Latin America country is fully dedicating its resources, already hit by crippling U.S. sanctions, to contain the deadly virus and save lives, sparing no cost.

Venezuela and its president are simultaneously engaged in a war on two fronts, against the virus and now the escalation of the March 26 indictment by the U.S. As Canadians, we have to rise up to this historic situation with its impact for Venezuela, Latin America and indeed the world.

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This was originally published on REDH.

As much as Covid-19 is a circuit breaker, a time bomb and an actual weapon of mass destruction (WMD), a fierce debate is raging worldwide on the wisdom of mass quarantine applied to entire cities, states and nations.

Those against it argue Planet Lockdown not only is not stopping the spread of Covid-19 but also has landed the global economy into a cryogenic state – with unforeseen, dire consequences. Thus quarantine should apply essentially to the population with the greatest risk of death: the elderly.

With Planet Lockdown transfixed by heart-breaking reports from the Covid-19 frontline, there’s no question this is an incendiary assertion.

In parallel, a total corporate media takeover is implying that if the numbers do not substantially go down, Planet Lockdown – an euphemism for house arrest – remains, indefinitely.

Michael Levitt, 2013 Nobel Prize in chemistry and Stanford biophysicist, was spot on when he calculated that China would get through the worst of Covid-19 way before throngs of health experts believed, and that “What we need is to control the panic”.

Let’s cross this over with some facts and dissident opinion, in the interest of fostering an informed debate.

The report Covid-19 – Navigating the Uncharted was co-authored by Dr. Anthony Fauci (image on the right) – the White House face of the fight –, H. Clifford Lane, and CDC director Robert R. Redfield. So it comes from the heart of the U.S. healthcare establishment.

The report explicitly states,

“the overall clinical consequences of Covid-19 may ultimately be more akin to those of a severe seasonal influenza (which has a case fatality rate of approximately 0.1%) or a pandemic influenza (similar to those in 1957 and 1968) rather than a disease similar to SARS or MERS, which have had case fatality rates of 9 to 10% and 36%, respectively.”

On March 19, four days before Downing Street ordered the British lockdown, Covid-19 was downgraded from the status of “High Consequence Infectious Disease.”

John Lee, recently retired professor of pathology and former NHS consultant pathologist, has recently argued that,

“the world’s 18,944 coronavirus deaths represent 0.14 per cent of the total. These figures might shoot up but they are, right now, lower than other infectious diseases that we live with (such as flu).”

He recommends, “a degree of social distancing should be maintained for a while, especially for the elderly and the immune-suppressed. But when drastic measures are introduced, they should be based on clear evidence. In the case of Covid-19, the evidence is not clear.”

That’s essentially the same point developed by a Russian military intel analyst.

No less than 22 scientists – see here and here – have expanded on their doubts about the Western strategy.

Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi, Professor Emeritus of Medical Microbiology at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, has provoked immense controversy with his open letter to Chancellor Merkel, stressing the “truly unforeseeable consequences of the drastic containment measures which are currently being applied in large parts of Europe.”

Even New York governor Andrew Cuomo admitted on the record about the error of quarantining elderly people with illnesses alongside the fit young population.

The absolutely key issue is how the West was caught completely unprepared for the spread of Covid-19 – even after being provided a head start of two months by China, and having the time to study different successful strategies applied across Asia.

There are no secrets for the success of the South Korean model.

South Korea was producing test kits already in early January, and by March was testing 100,000 people a day, after establishing strict control of the whole population – to Western cries of “no protection of private life”. That was before the West embarked on Planet Lockdown mode.

South Korea was all about testing early, often and safely – in tandem with quick, thorough contact tracing, isolation and surveillance.

Covid-19 carriers are monitored with the help of video-surveillance cameras, credit card purchases, smartphone records. Add to it SMS sent to everyone when a new case is detected near them or their place of work. Those in self-isolation need an app to be constantly monitored; non-compliance means a fine to the equivalent of $2,800.

Controlled demolition in effect

In early March, the Chinese Journal of Infectious Diseases, hosted by the Shanghai Medical Association, pre-published an Expert Consensus on Comprehensive Treatment of Coronavirus in Shanghai. Treatment recommendations included, “large doses of vitamin C…injected intravenously at a dose of 100 to 200 mg / kg per day. The duration of continuous use is to significantly improve the oxygenation index.”

That’s the reason why 50 tons of Vitamin C was shipped to Hubei province in early February. It’s a stark example of a simple “mitigation” solution capable of minimizing economic catastrophe.

In contrast, it’s as if the brutally fast Chinese “people’s war” counterpunch against Covid-19 had caught Washington totally unprepared. Steady intel rumbles on the Chinese net point to Beijing having already studied all plausible leads towards the origin of the Sars-Cov-2 virus – vital information that will be certainly weaponized, Sun Tzu style, at the right time.

As it stands, the sustainability of the complex Eurasian integration project has not been substantially compromised. As the EU has provided the whole planet with a graphic demonstration of its cluelessness and helplessness, everyday the Russia-China strategic partnership gets stronger – increasingly investing in soft power and advancing a pan-Eurasia dialogue which includes, crucially, medical help.

Facing this process, the EU’s top diplomat, Joseph Borrell, sounds indeed so helpless:

“There is a global battle of narratives going on in which timing is a crucial factor. […] China has brought down local new infections to single figures – and it is now sending equipment and doctors to Europe, as others do as well. China is aggressively pushing the message that, unlike the U.S., it is a responsible and reliable partner. In the battle of narratives we have also seen attempts to discredit the EU (…) We must be aware there is a geo-political component including a struggle for influence through spinning and the ‘politics of generosity’. Armed with facts, we need to defend Europe against its detractors.”

That takes us to really explosive territory. A critique of the Planet Lockdown strategy inevitably raises serious questions pointing to a controlled demolition of the global economy. What is already in stark effect are myriad declinations of martial law, severe social media policing in Ministry of Truth mode, and the return of strict border controls.

These are unequivocal markings of a massive social re-engineering project, complete with inbuilt full monitoring, population control and social distancing promoted as the new normal.

That would be taking to the limit Secretary of State Mike “we lie, we cheat, we steal” Pompeo’s assertion, on the record, that Covid-19 is a live military exercise: “This matter is going forward — we are in a live exercise here to get this right.”

All hail BlackRock

So as we face a New Great Depression, steps leading to a Brave New World are already discernable. It goes way beyond a mere Bretton Woods 2.0, in the manner that Pam and Russ Martens superbly deconstruct the recent $2 trillion, Capitol Hill-approved stimulus to the U.S. economy.

Essentially, the Fed will “leverage the bill’s $454 million bailout slush fund into $4.5 trillion”. And no questions are allowed on who gets the money, because the bill simply cancels the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for the Fed.

The privileged private contractor for the slush fund is none other than BlackRock. Here’s the extremely short version of the whole, astonishing scheme, masterfully detailed here.

Wall Street has turned the Fed into a hedge fund. The Fed is going to own at least two thirds of all U.S. Treasury bills wallowing in the market before the end of the year.

The U.S. Treasury will be buying every security and loan in sight while the Fed will be the banker – financing the whole scheme.

So essentially this is a Fed/ Treasury merger. A behemoth dispensing loads of helicopter money – with BlackRock as the undisputable winner.

BlackRock is widely known as the biggest money manager on the planet. Their tentacles are everywhere. They own 5% of Apple, 5% of Exxon Mobil, 6% of Google, second largest shareholder of AT&T (Turner, HBO, CNN, Warner Brothers) – these are just a few examples.

They will buy all these securities and manage those dodgy special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) on behalf of the Treasury.

BlackRock not only is the top investor in Goldman Sachs. Better yet: Blackrock is bigger than Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank combined. BlackRock is a serious Trump donor. Now, for all practical purposes, it will be the operating system – the Chrome, Firefox, Safari – of Fed/Treasury.

This represents the definitive Wall Street-ization of the Fed – with no evidence whatsoever it will lead to any improvement in the lives of the average American.

Western corporate media, en masse, have virtually ignored the myriad, devastating economic consequences of Planet Lockdown. Wall to wall coverage barely mentions the astonishing economic human wreckage already in effect – especially for the masses barely surviving, so far, in the informal economy.

For all practical purposes, the Global War on Terror (GWOT) has been replaced by the Global War on Virus (GWOV). But what is not being seriously analyzed is the Perfect Toxic Storm: a totally shattered economy; The Mother of All Financial Crashes – barely masked by the trillions in helicopter money from the Fed and the ECB; the tens of millions of unemployed engendered by the New Great Depression; the millions of small businesses that will simply disappear; a widespread, global mental health crisis. Not to mention the masses of elderly, especially in the U.S., that will be issued an unspoken “drop dead” notice.

Beyond any rhetoric about “decoupling”, the global economy is already, de facto, split in two. On one side, we have Eurasia, Africa and swathes of Latin America – what China will be painstakingly connecting and reconnecting via the New Silk Roads. On the other side, we have North America and selected Western vassals. A puzzled Europe lies in the middle.

A cryogenically induced global economy certainly facilitates a reboot. Trumpism is the New Exceptionalism – so that means an isolationist MAGA on steroids. In contrast, China will painstakingly reboot its market base along the New Silk Roads – Africa and Latin America included – to replace the 20% of trade/exports to be lost with the U.S.

The meager $1,200 checks promised to Americans are a de facto precursor of the much touted Universal Basic Income (UBI). They may become permanent as tens of millions of people will be permanently unemployed. That will facilitate the transition towards a totally automated, 24/7 economy run by AI – thus the importance of 5G.

And that’s where ID2020 comes in.

AI and ID2020

The European Commission is involved in a crucial but virtually unknown project, CREMA (Cloud Based Rapid Elastic Manufacturing) which aims to facilitate the widest possible implementation of AI in conjunction to the advent of a cashless One-World system.

The end of cash necessarily implies a One-World government capable of dispensing – and controlling – UBI; a de facto full accomplishment of Foucault’s studies on biopolitics. Anyone is liable to be erased from the system if an algorithm equals this individual with dissent.

It gets even sexier when absolute social control is promoted as an innocent vaccine.

ID2020 is self-described as a benign alliance of “public-private partners”. Essentially, it is an electronic ID platform based on generalized vaccination. And its starts at birth; newborns will be provided with a “portable and persistent biometrically-linked digital identity.”

GAVI, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, pledges to “protect people’s health “ and provide “immunization for all”. Top partners and sponsors, apart from the WHO, include, predictably, Big Pharma.

At the ID2020 Alliance summit last September in New York, it was decided that the “Rising to the Good ID Challenge” program would be launched in 2020. That was confirmed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) this past January in Davos. The digital identity will be tested with the government of Bangladesh.

That poses a serious question: was ID2020 timed to coincide with what a crucial sponsor, the WHO, qualified as a pandemic? Or was a pandemic absolutely crucial to justify the launch of ID2020?

As game-changing trial runs go, nothing of course beats Event 201, which took place less than a month after ID2020.

The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in partnership with, once again, the WEF, as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, described Event 201 as “a high-level pandemic exercise”. The exercise “illustrated areas where public/private partnerships will be necessary during the response to a severe pandemic in order to diminish large-scale economic and societal consequences.”

With Covid-19 in effect as a pandemic, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health was forced to issue a statement basically saying they just “modeled a fictional coronavirus pandemic, but we explicitly stated that it was not a prediction”.

There’s no question “a severe pandemic, which becomes ‘Event 201’ would require reliable cooperation among several industries, national governments, and key international institutions”, as spun by the sponsors. Covid-19 is eliciting exactly this kind of “cooperation”. Whether it’s “reliable” is open to endless debate.

The fact is that, all over Planet Lockdown, a groundswell of public opinion is leaning towards defining the current state of affairs as a global psyop: a deliberate global meltdown – the New Great Depression – imposed on unsuspecting citizens by design.

The powers that be, taking their cue from the tried and tested, decades-old CIA playbook, of course are breathlessly calling it a “conspiracy theory”. Yet what vast swathes of global public opinion observe is a – dangerous – virus being used as cover for the advent of a new, digital financial system, complete with a forced vaccine cum nanochip creating a full, individual, digital identity.

The most plausible scenario for our immediate future reads like clusters of smart cities linked by AI, with people monitored full time and duly micro-chipped doing what they need with a unified digital currency, in an atmosphere of Bentham’s and Foucault’s Panopticum on overdrive.

So if this is really our future, the existing world-system has to go. This is a test, this is only a test.

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Pepe Escobar is a frequent contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from Pixabay.com

1– Unemployment is off-the-charts

Thursday’s jobless claims leave no doubt that the country is in the grips of another severe recession. More than 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment insurance in the last week. That number exceeds the gloomiest prediction of more than 40 economists and pushes the two-week total to an eye-watering 10 million claims.

According to CNBC:

“Those at the lower end of the wage scale have been especially hard-hit during a crisis that has seen businesses either cut staff outright or at best freeze any new hiring until there’s more visibility about how efforts to contain the coronavirus will work.

“We’ve lived through the recession and 9/11. What we’re seeing with this decline is actually worse than both of those events,” said Irina Novoselsky, CEO of online jobs marketplace CareerBuilder.” (CNBC)

According to New York Magazine:

“Economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis projected Monday that job losses from the coronavirus recession would reach 47 million and push America’s unemployment rate to 32.1 percent — more than 7 points higher than its Great Depression–era peak.”

2– Service Sector has been walloped by the virus

Services account for 70% of the US economy, but presently the sector is in meltdown. According to the analysts at Wolf Street: “Employment contracted sharply and hours were reduced for those still employed. “The employment index plunged from +6.1 to -23.8, also the lowest level on record…

Retailers got whacked. The Retail Sales Index of the Texas Retail Outlook Survey collapsed from the already beaten-down level of -2.5 in February to an epic all-time low of -82.6 in March… (Also) the general business activity index collapsed from the beaten down level of -5.0 to a historic low of -84.2….

Comments from retail executives were somber:… “Most of our business has gone to zero except for essential locations such as hospitals, military bases and prisons… We are contemplating at this moment sending most employees home while our owners determine whether they can afford to pay reduced salaries and cover benefits for a short period while we see if things improve or worsen” (Wolf Street)

3– Economic carnage extends across sectors

Business Insider: “Recession risks are rising as coronavirus spreads around the world…The crisis will clobber airlines, shipping, hotels, and restaurants…

“Sectors reliant on trade and the free movement of people are most exposed,” said Benjamin Nelson, a Moody’s vice president and co-author of the report.

Carmakers, gaming, and retail will be hit hard by supply chain disruptions, the analysts said…

“A lengthy outbreak would affect economic activity for longer, leading to heightened recessionary dynamics and a more significant demand shock,” Moody’s said. “A sustained pullback in consumption would hurt corporate earnings, prompt layoffs, and weigh on consumer sentiment.”(Business Insider)

Car sales have also dropped dramatically in the last two weeks. On Wednesday, Hyundai reported that sales had seen a decline of 43 percent for March compared to the same period in 2019. That’s a drop from 61,177 vehicles in March 2019 to just 35,118 during the same month in 2020. All other car manufacturers are experiencing similar weakness in demand.

4– The Bloodbath on Wall Street continues

U.S. shares sold off again on Wednesday for the third time in four days wiping out most of last week’s bear market rally. The SandP 500 dipped 114 points while the Dow Jones lopped-off nearly 973 points by the end of the session. Analysts now believe that last week’s 20% surge was a temporary reaction to Trump’s multi-trillion dollar fiscal plan. By a 9 to 1 margin, investors are now betting that stocks have further to fall.

“Investor pessimism today is as bad as it has been,” said Dennis DeBusschere of Evercore ISI. “All estimates of when this will end are being pushed out…”

Before the outbreak of the virus, traders believed that low rates, liquidity injections and easy credit would keep stocks on a permanent upward trajectory. But the daily deluge of bad news coupled with an economy that is in freefall has undermined confidence in the Central Bank sending stocks into a tailspin. The Dow closed Wednesday at 20,943, which is three times higher than its March 9, 2009 low of 6,547. Stocks still have further to fall.

5– Struggling consumers can no longer carry the US economy

An article at The Medium explains how the composition of the workforce has changed since the 2008 financial crisis. Gig workers make up are a significant part of the workforce, but they do not have the protections or benefits of most wage earners. These independent contractors will impacted the most by the sudden downturn in the economy. Their ability to consume will also weaken the post-crisis recovery and lead to slower growth. Check out this short excerpt from A crippling collapse in consumer spending is coming:

“From restaurant workers, caterers, and Uber drivers to office and hotel cleaning staff to event venue staff to people supplementing earnings with AirBnB revenue, income is cratering across the country for hourly and gig workers. And most have little to no financial cushion…

Thirty-six percent of U.S. workers are now involved in the gig economy…. Most gig and hourly workers are walking a financial tightrope. They will not be able to afford even a short-term hit to their earnings. It will mean a further spike in auto loan and credit-card delinquencies. It will mean a spike in healthcare-driven bankruptcies. It will mean unpaid rent. And it will mean consumer spending will plummet…. A sudden shock to gig and hourly-worker earnings will have seismic implications for the economic and political future of the U.S….

More than 15.5 million Americans work in restaurants. Of those workers, roughly 3 million live in poverty….Unpaid rent will eventually lead to landlord defaults… Consumer spending now accounts for roughly 70% of the U.S. economy. Reportedly, government stimulus may not reach consumers until the end of April. Gig and hourly workers need help now.” (“A crippling collapse in consumer spending is coming”, The Medium)

How many of these gig workers will fall through the cracks, lose their apartments or rental units, and wind up on the streets, homeless and destitute?

6– Americans continue to stockpile food

According to the Wall Street Journal: “In the past two weeks, Americans have hoarded food as restaurants close their dining rooms and more are told to stay home from work and school. General Mills, which makes Cheerios cereal, Yoplait yogurt and Progresso soup, on Wednesday said retailers in North America and Europe are purchasing more of its products and its factories are running at near capacity to meet the demand….(WSJ)

“Consumers across the globe are still loading their pantries — and the economic fallout from the virus is just starting...

“You could see wartime rationing, price controls and domestic stockpiling,” said Ann Berg, an independent consultant and veteran agricultural trader.” (Bloomberg)

CNBC: “Psychologists ..weigh in on why our brains push us to panic buy — even when authorities are assuring the public there’s no need to. According to Paul Marsden, a consumer psychologist at the University of the Arts London,…

“It’s about ‘taking back control’ in a world where you feel out of control…When people are stressed their reason is hampered, so they look at what other people are doing. If others are stockpiling it leads you to engage in the same behavior. People see photos of empty shelves and regardless of whether it’s rational it sends a signal to them that it’s the thing to do….” (CNBC)

7– Most Americans have no savings

From Yahoo Finance:

Saving money continues to be a challenge for Americans….

Since 2015, GOBankingRates has asked Americans how much they have in savings. Each year, the survey results have shown that a majority of adults don’t even have $1,000 in a savings account…

This year, GOBankingRates asked more than 5,000 adults, “How much money do you have saved in your savings account?” Respondents could choose from one of seven options:

The survey found that 58 percent of respondents had less than $1,000 saved.

“It’s always concerning when a large part of the population is seemingly living paycheck to paycheck because when unexpected personal or financial hardships occur, it can be challenging to recover without adequate savings,” Jason Thacker, head of consumer deposits and payments at TD Bank, said.” (“58% of Americans Have Less Than $1,000 in Savings, Survey Finds”, Yahoo Finance)

8– Household debt is at an all-time high

From CNBC: “Household debt surged in 2019, marking the biggest annual increase since just before the financial crisis, according to the New York Federal Reserve.

Total household debt balances rose by $601 billion last year, topping $14 trillion for the first time, according to a new report by the Fed branch. The last time the growth was that large was 2007, when household debt rose by just over $1 trillion....

“The data also show that transitions into delinquency among credit card borrowers have steadily risen since 2016, notably among younger borrowers,” Wilbert Van Der Klaauw, senior vice president at the New York Fed, said in a statement.” (“Household debt jumps the most in 12 years, Federal Reserve report says”, CNBC)

9 — Many businesses might not survive long enough to get stimulus

Many businesses shut their doors either for a lack of customers or on orders from state or local governments as emergency declarations began rolling across the country in mid-March,. Yet it could be weeks more before the business loans, bigger unemployment checks and direct payments to individuals from the stimulus plan flow into the economy.

Small businesses account for almost half of U.S. private employment. A complete collapse of even some of those enterprises not only would dash the dreams of entrepreneurs and threaten the livelihoods of many, it risks sapping the power of an eventual economic rebound as the financial distress ripples through to landlords, vendors and lenders.

Already, 50,000 retail stores have shut in just over a week across the country, putting more than 600,000 workers on furlough, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The National Federation of Independent Business, had a record 13,000 people register for a webinar it hosted Monday on the stimulus plan and financial resources….After the webinar ended, more than 900 emails flooded in, she said, with business owners asking: “Am I going to have anything left? Will I be evicted? Will I have to file for bankruptcy? Will I be able to reopen?”

“The emails almost make me want to cry,” Milito added. “What I’m hearing from members is fear, uncertainty and almost heartbreak.” (“Stimulus May Come Too Late for U.S. Businesses Already Stretched”, Bloomberg)

10– Food banks are seeing a sudden, sharp rise in demand

This is from Newsday:

“Emergency food programs are bracing for a wave of new recipients in the coming weeks as more Long Islanders are expected to lose their jobs, get furloughed or have work hours and wages reduced. At the same time, volunteers — many of them at high risk of contracting the virus — are staying home to protect themselves and needy people from getting sick.

Compounding the problem is a crippled national supply chain that delays food deliveries by weeks.

“It’s a perfect storm of tragedy on top of each other,” said Jean Kelly, executive director of the Interfaith Nutrition Network, a Hempstead soup kitchen. “Everything that could go wrong is going wrong.”

Soup kitchens and pantries in many communities closed temporarily in recent weeks to protect volunteers or because sponsoring agencies, such as houses of worship and nonprofits, also shut their doors.

“The reason they’re closed is they don’t really have an infrastructure of people to work there….The majority of the food pantries are operated by volunteers. The average age is in their 70s. They’re fearful of contracting the coronavirus.” (“Demand at LI food pantries rise as volunteers and food supplies fall”, Newsday)

Final Note from an article titled: “Americans Are Worried About The Coronavirus. They’re Even More Worried About The Economy”

“An overwhelming majority of Americans are really concerned about the economy. … A Morning Consult poll conducted between March 20 and March 22 found that 90 percent of Americans said they were “very” or “somewhat” concerned that the coronavirus would impact the economy…Americans are also worried about job security — 49 percent said they were worried about losing their job, according to an Economist/YouGov survey conducted between March 22 and March 24.” (FiveThirtyEight)

Not surprisingly, some polls suggest that “more Americans are worried about the effect of the coronavirus on the economy than about their own health.” I would include myself in that group, which is why I hope that President Trump expands his economics team by adding more experienced, top-notch economists who can help him navigate this unprecedented and potentially-catastrophic crisis. This isn’t the time for the B Team (Kudlow, Mnuchin) to making decisions that will impact the entire country.

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This article was originally published on The Unz Review.

Mike Whitney is a frequent contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from Shutterstock

The systemic failure of the capitalist order triggered by the coronavirus has reinforced the growing awareness that extreme wealth inequality is a fundamental characteristic of the system.

“Billions of dollars were allocated to business while millions of people are facing an increasingly desperate situation.”

As the capitalist emperor strolls down the avenue of U.S. public opinion butt-naked but for the first time since the 1930s, more and more people are starting to realize that they were not crazy. The brutal failures of the capitalist system that they saw were not a figment of their imagination or a diversion from their own personal failures. Instead, they were the awful reality of degradation, dehumanization and social insecurity embedded in the system. Many could see that reality but wouldn’t allow themselves to believe their own eyes and experiences. They couldn’t call it out like the kid in the fable – until now.

The claim that the U.S. was an exceptional nation and that the capitalist order represented the highest expression of human development has been shattered by the second global collapse of the capitalist order within twelve years. Millions thrown out of work, global supply chains disrupted, trillions disappeared in the capitalist casino euphemistically called the stock market… The state’s feeble and class biased response to COVID-19 has resulted in a costly lesson in class politics for the U.S. public.

The dictatorship of the capitalist class has survived because the class reality of the dictatorship has been obscured. Limited democracy, social democracy, white nationalism in the form of patriotism, the corruption of unions, the post-war compromise between capital and labor, state subsidies for the expansion of the white middle-class, debt-driven consumption and cross-class white suppression of the democratic and human rights of African Americans provided the material and ideological basis for the perpetuation of the dictatorship throughout most of the 20th century and into the 21st.

“The claim that the U.S. was an exceptional nation has been shattered by the second global collapse of the capitalist order within twelve years.”

However, the systemic failure of the capitalist order triggered by the coronavirus has reinforced the growing awareness among the population that extreme wealth inequality is not just a temporary quirk that can be remedied with tax and some redistributive policies but a fundamental characteristic of the system.

For example, the debate that took place leading up to the passing of the legislation by Congress to address COVID-19’s impact dramatically exposed a capitalist class agenda that was objectively opposed to the interest of the entire working class, the poor, and the declining middle-class.

The people saw that billions of dollars were allocated to business while millions of people are facing an increasingly desperate situation.They are facing their second pay period without a full check and they are weeks away from receiving any kind of meaningful relief. But the peoples’ bills continue to mount up while the multinational corporations get bailed out. April rent and mortgage payments are due and with everyone home and eating more but with less money for food, thousands are being forced to go without or rely on food pantries. The $1,200 payoff is an insult.

And with the tragic reality of the shamefully inadequate public healthcare system in the U.S. and the rumors that private insurance healthcare premiums might increase 40% next year, the capitalists want to shut down any discussion around Medicare for All along with any discussion on nationalizing the healthcare industry.

“The $1,200 payoff is an insult.”

While millions are losing their employer-based healthcare coverage, Biden says that nothing has changed his opposition to Medicare for All. Another neoliberal Democrat.

This is not being missed by many people.

The demystification of capitalism and a realistic understanding of the role of the U.S. in the global order is a good thing and that will be the silver lining coming out of this current crisis.

The precipitous decline of U.S. power and prestige is visible for all to see. The world sees that it is the Chinese who are sending ventilators to Europe. The world also sees that several states and U.S. federal agencies like FEMA are being forced to buy ventilators and face masks from China.

The world also recognizes that the U.S. lost its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, despite its enormous war machine and the failed attempt to effect regime change in Syria.

The public outside of the U.S. know that there is absolutely nothing exceptional about this nation, except for its inability, up until now, to see itself the way that millions see it – as a declining power that is morally corrupt and a danger to itself and the world.

“The world sees that it is the Chinese who are sending ventilators to Europe.”

The ability to see the emperor and all his nakedness and know they are seeing the truth, reflects the loss of what Danny Haiphong and Robert Sirvent  call the ideology of “American exceptionalism and American innocence.”

That shift in consciousness is occurring slowly and unevenly. But let there be no doubt what this change in consciousness will result in. It will not mean that the rulers will surrender power to the aroused masses without a fight. No, it only means that the subjective factor – a revolutionary consciousness – will catch up with the objective factor of the ongoing crisis of the Pan-European white supremacist colonial/capitalist patriarchy. These are the conditions for a revolutionary advance.

That moment is on the horizon. Can you see it?

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Ajamu Baraka is the national organizer of the Black Alliance for Peace and was the 2016 candidate for vice president on the Green Party ticket. Baraka serves on the Executive Committee of the U.S. Peace Council and leadership body of the United National Anti-War Coalition (UNAC). He is an editor and contributing columnist for the Black Agenda Report and contributing columnist for Counterpunch. He was recently awarded the US Peace Memorial 2019 Peace Prize and the Serena Shirm award for uncompromised integrity in journalism.  

When President Xi Jinping was on a phone call in mid-March with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conti, before the arrival of a China Eastern flight from Shanghai to Milan full of medical help, the key takeaway was the Chinese pledge to develop a Health Silk Road (Jiankang Sichou Zhilu).  

That was in fact already inbuilt in the Belt and Road Initiative playbook since at least 2017, under the framework of enhanced, pan-Eurasian health connectivity. The pandemic only accelerated the timeline. The Health Silk Road will run in parallel to the multiple overland Silk Road corridors and the Maritime Silk Road.

In a graphic demonstration of soft power, so far China has offered Covid-19-related equipment and medical help to no fewer than 89 nations – and counting.

That covers Africa (especially South Africa, Namibia and Kenya, with Alibaba in fact announcing it will send help to all African nations); Latin America (Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Peru); the arc from East Asia to Southwest Asia; and Europe.

Key recipients in Europe include Italy, France, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Serbia and Poland. But Italy, most of all, is a very special case. Most are donations. Some are trade – like millions of masks sold to France (and the US).

Less than a year ago Italy became the first G-7 nation to sign a memorandum of understanding formally joining Belt and Road – much to the displeasure of Washington and the Atlanticist galaxy in Brussels and beyond.

Earlier this year in Sicily, I discussed these intricacies in detail with Enrico Fardella, Professor of History at Peking University  and an expert on China-Mediterranean relations.

Italy is supported on myriad fronts – not only at the highest political level but also via the Chinese Red Cross, Sino-Italian associations, tech/logistics Chinese companies and donations from Alibaba, Huawei, ZTE and Lenovo. There are three Chinese medical teams in Italy at the moment.

This all ties up with the larger Belt and Road picture, featuring investments in Genoa and Trieste, two key ports and future Belt and Road nodes.

This Chinese soft power offensive is carefully calibrated to offset the current paralysis of global supply chains. China is now working overtime to supply many parts of the world with medicine and related healthcare items – always with the Belt and Road framework in mind, as if doubling down on Globalization 2.0.

That spells out the interconnectivity of nations that badly need development and infrastructure along with the need for good health systems and practices.

And that prepares the terrain for, when Covid-19 is more or less tamed and the Chinese economy fully recovered, the Belt and Road reboot: an inexorable historic trend based on a new economic model that Beijing deems more equitable, and in the interests of the Global South.

‘Chinese lie‘

A Health Silk Road is already in effect when we see China, Russia – and Cuba with its first-class health system – sending teams of doctors and virologists as well as planes with medical equipment to Italy, and China sending drugs, test kits and supplies to illegally sanctioned Iran.

China immediately understood what was at stake as it saw Covid-19 ravage many hot points of world-famous Made in Italy. With its offer of skilled, cheaper manufacturing, China had initially lured key Italian fashion houses to outsource their production to China, and most of all to Wuhan.

The connectivity – which has been there for decades – works both ways. Chinese investors started to arrive in northern Italy in the early 1990s. They bought a string of factories; renovated them; created their own, top Made in Italy brands; and brought in tens of thousands of skilled Chinese seamstresses to work in these factories.

There are plenty of direct flights from Wuhan to Lombardy – to serve at least 300,000 Chinese who have moved permanently to Italy to work in Chinese-owned factories producing Made in Italy.

So it’s no wonder Doctor Giuseppe Remuzzi, director of the Mario Negri Pharmacology Institute in Milan, became a superstar in China.  In an interview that went viral, Remuzzi talks about his explosive findings in conversations with general practitioners in Lombardy.

Here’s Dr. Remuzzi, at 4:19: 

 “Do you know what happened? Certain family doctors, who have the best antennas in the territory, at least the most able and attentive ones, have told me recently that they were seeing grave cases of pneumonia, which we had never seen in other years.

These pneumonia cases had nothing to do with typical flu pneumonia, they were interstitial pneumonias, they had to do CT, radiography [to diagnose it], and this was seen in October, November, December. So this virus has been circulating a long time.”

That was indeed in parallel with or even before the first coronavirus cases in Wuhan in mid-November. It’s been already scientifically established that the virus strains in Wuhan and in Lombardy are different. Which came first, and where from, remains a matter of incendiary debate.

Inevitably the Health Silk Road would have to be dismissed by the Atlanticist gang as a disinformation ploy exploiting the pandemic to “destabilize” and weaken Europe. That’s the narrative promoted by EUvsDisinfo, an NGO whose personnel love to blast Russia and China for a living.

So for the Brussels bureaucracy, the Health Silk Road is not about saving lives; it’s about “destabilizing” the EU and improving Xi Jinping’s domestic image after China lied, lied and lied again about the extent and severity of coronavirus. That happens to be the exact same narrative of the Trump administration, US corporate media and US intelligence.

Does it matter? Not for those 89 nations that are receiving much-needed help and equipment. The dogs of demonization bark while the Health Silk Road caravan passes.

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This article was originally published on Asia Times.

Pepe Escobar is a frequent contributor to Global Research.

Featured image: Chinese doctors in face masks deployed overseas. Photo: Facebook

Countries throughout the globe are focusing on the eradication of the COVID-19 pandemic which has infected nearly a million people and killed over 45,000.

During the early phase of the detection of the virus in the People’s Republic of China, the United States administration of President Donald Trump dismissed the threat of COVID-19 and refused to implement emergency measures on a national scale.

By early April, the crisis was evident for all to witness. Millions were rendered unemployed in the U.S. where the official propaganda of the state and corporate community is that the economy was expanding at a rapid rate with no threat of recession.

At present the threat of another Great Depression on the scale, or exceeding, the downturn of 1929-1941, which only mass resistance and the implementation of the New Deal were able to ameliorate during the 1930s, is within the realm of possibility. It was only the advent of the second imperialist war of 1939-1945 which pulled the U.S. out of the Depression.

On a domestic level with the U.S. discourse very much centered on the level of benefits being given to various sectors within the economy as relates to the $2.2 trillion stimulus package approved by Congress and the president, while the role of foreign affairs has escaped public scrutiny. Healthcare workers, rightly concerned, are demanding personal protection equipment to prevent the outbreak from further spreading among physicians, nurses and other employees.

The bulk of the allocations mandated by the stimulus package will go towards maintaining the profitability of the largest corporations in the world. Undoubtedly, millions living inside this country will suffer social and healthcare challenges for months if not years to come.

However, on an international level, the Pentagon and State Department are continuing their imperialist policies towards the nations of Africa, Asia and Latin America. These military and economic attacks on various geo-political regions defy the general international atmosphere of seeking cooperation in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres made an appeal to all those involved in military conflicts around the world to immediately ceasefire. The motivating factor in his statement was designed to mobilize all necessary resources to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Guterres said in a statement on March 23 that:

“The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war.

That is why today, I am calling for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world. It is time to put armed conflict on lock-down and focus together on the true fight of our lives…. It is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives. Silence the guns; stop the artillery; end the airstrikes.” (See this)

Nonetheless, the White House has not announced any disengagement or withdrawal initiatives related to the numerous military actions the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) are involved in around the globe. Quite to the contrary, nations such as Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, among others, remain under active threat by Washington.

Bombing Operations in Somalia amid Intensified Attacks on Iran, Venezuela and Zimbabwe

The U.S. has been interfering in the internal affairs of the Horn of Africa nation of Somalia for many decades. Numerous aerial strikes have been conducted against Somalia for more than a decade.

In recent weeks, many Somalians condemned an airstrike which killed civilians under the guise of anti-terrorism operations during February. These purportedly precision bombings often massacre people who are designated as “terrorists” by the Pentagon. In Somalia there is an ongoing guerrilla conflict between the al-Shabaab Islamist organization which Washington claims is backed by Al-Qaeda and the U.S. supported Federal Government based in the capital of Mogadishu.

Consequently, any attack is justified by claiming that the targets of these unannounced bombings are terrorists. The U.S. is backing thousands of African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) troops who have been inside Somalia since the late 2000s. AMISOM is in Somalia to provide security for the central government in Mogadishu. Irrespective of AMISOM’s presence, the efforts to eliminate al-Shabaab have not been successful. In addition, to providing weapons and training for AMISOM and the Federal Government in Mogadishu, the Pentagon has deployed soldiers from the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM).

An article published on the Intercept website says of the Somalia situation:

“A U.S. Africa Command press release issued the day of the strike near Janaale, a town about 60 miles south of the Somali capital Mogadishu, said that five ‘terrorists’ were killed and that there were no civilian casualties. But Farhan Mahmoud Mohammed, a resident of Janaale who spoke to The Intercept by phone last Friday (March 13), told a different story. Mohammed’s 13-year-old son Abdi Farhan Mahmoud was on his way to school when a U.S. missile struck a mini-bus taxi he was riding in. Mahmoud was decapitated in the strike, his father said. He could hardly bear to look at the boy’s charred face. Another passenger in the minibus, 70-year-old Abdirahman Ali Waadhoor, was also killed in the attack, according to his son Abdullahi Abdirahman Ali. ‘My father is a disabled man. He never had a problem with anyone.’ said Ali, who lives in London and saw pictures of his father’s corpse on his phone.” (See this)

In response to the criticism of the airstrikes in Somalia, AFRICOM is now saying they will provide a quarterly report on civilian casualties. Such a statement implies that the military operations in Somalia will continue indefinitely.

AFRICOM in the Sahel

The South American state of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has been targeted for regime-change for over two decades since the beginning of the Revolution. 2019 saw a heightening of destabilization efforts against the administration of President Nicolas Maduro when an opposition figure with a questionable following was recognized as the head-of-state by the U.S. and its allies.

On April 1, there were reports of the deployment of a U.S. Naval warship being deployed close to the Caribbean shores of Venezuela ostensibly to guard against the trafficking in illegal drugs. Without any evidence the U.S. government has charged President Maduro with being involved in the importation of cocaine into the country.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has been an epicenter for the spread of COVID-19. Yet the Trump administration maintains draconian sanctions against the Middle Eastern nation preventing the government from acquiring much needed medications and healthcare equipment.

Members of Congress have sent a letter to the State Department calling for the lifting of sanctions against Tehran. An article published by Press TV reported that:

“In a letter sent on Tuesday (March 31) to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, over 30 members of Congress — including Senators Bernie Sanders and Edward J. Markey as well as Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar — urged the Trump administration to step in with humanitarian aid rather than worsening the situation.”

Language from the letter says:

“Rather than continue to invoke new sanctions in the Iranian people’s hour of need, we urge you to substantially suspend sanctions on Iran during this global public health emergency in a humanitarian gesture to the Iranian people to better enable them to fight the virus. Additionally, we encourage the US to find a way to deliver aid directly to the Iranian people to support the Iranian people’s fight against Coronavirus. By targeting an entire economy that supports more than 80 million people, US sanctions make it harder for ordinary Iranians to obtain basic necessities like food and hygienic supplies essential to stemming the pandemic and that are basic to survival.”

In the Southern African nation of Zimbabwe the U.S., Britain, the European Union (EU) and their allies imposed sanctions against this country some twenty years ago. Recently the UN Secretary General appealed to the imperialist states to lift sanctions against Harare.

The state-run Herald newspaper reported on April 1 noting:

“Government has welcomed recent calls by top United Nations officials for the removal of sanctions on Zimbabwe and other countries in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic that is ravaging the world. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet last week called on the international community, principally the US, to roll back sanctions imposed on many countries, with Zimbabwe being one of them. They said such embargoes were hampering the fight against the pandemic that has so far killed over 36,000 people and infected at least 800, 000 worldwide.”

The Struggle Against COVID-19 is an Anti-Imperialist Effort

Consequently, the U.S. ruling class cannot argue honestly that it is seriously committed to battling the COVID-19 pandemic while continuing its war policies around the world. Any escalation of military interventions will only worsen the overall global health situation.

Progressive forces in the U.S. must condemn these acts of destabilization and conflict engineered by Washington. Only the revolutionary transformation of capitalist society can provide long term solutions to the problems of the world.

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Abayomi Azikiwe is the editor of Pan-African News Wire. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research.

Featured image: AMISOM troops occupying Somalia from Uganda; all images in this article are from the author

The ongoing Syrian-Emirati rapprochement, epitomized most recently by President Assad praising Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed as “humane” for the latter’s pledge of “support and solidarity” to Syria during World War C despite the UAE’s leading role in causing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis in Yemen, proves that the Arab Republic pursues a policy of realpolitik that’s completely at odds with the principles-based one that some of its Alt-Media surrogates previously claimed that it espouses.

Now, that almost all of us, all over the world, have been forced into staying in what could be easily defined as house arrest, there is suddenly plenty of time to read books, to watch great films, and to listen to splendid music.

Many of us, for years, have been sadly repeating again and again: “if only we would have time…”

Now there is plenty of it – plenty of time. The world has stopped. Something terrible is happening; something we never wanted to occur. We sense it, we are terrified, but we do not know precisely, what it is. Not now, not yet.

Fiction has become reality. Albert Camus and his Plague. Jose Saramago and Blindness.

We did not really know that something like this could take place; even those of us who have close to zero trust in the wisdom of Western civilization.

Today, again, I read the same argument that has been sending chills down my spine, each time it is repeated. And repeated it is being, now regularly, at least in Europe. There, Fascism is clearly back. Dr. Luboš Motl, a Czech theoretical physicist, who was an assistant professor at Harvard University from 2004 to 2007:

“And they believe that the structures which allow them to survive – the governments, banks, and so on – are ‘evil’. Some are just financially illiterate. But others know what they are saying, and rejoice in demanding that trillions be sacrificed in order to infinitesimally increase the probability that a 90-year-old will avoid infection and live a little bit longer. They don’t accept their dependence on society and the system at all. They don’t realize that their moral values, their ‘human rights’, are only available if paid for by prosperous societies.”

A doctor… my God! A “prosperous society” means, obviously, a capitalist, Western society. Imperialism, neo-colonialism! To the people like him, clearly, not every human life is equal. ‘Value’ depends on age, and perhaps on race?’

It has always been like this, in the West, but at least it was concealed, somehow. Now it is out in the open. And I am shaking. Not from fear, but from revulsion. I definitely do not want to live in “Motl’s world.”

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But back to the main topic of this essay.

Now we finally have that proverbial time to read, to watch films, and to listen to music. Involuntarily, but time we have, nevertheless. We also have plenty of time to think, think, think.

The great and now diseased Uruguayan writer, an icon of the left, Eduardo Galeano, once told me, at his favorite Café Brazilero in Montevideo:

“In order to be a great writer, one has to be a great listener, first.”

I have to add: And a great reader, observer.

You can only produce great books, films and essays, after you listened to thousands of people speak; people rich and poor, bright and senseless. And after reading hundreds of books, and watching hundreds of excellent films.

It is impossible to change the world for better, after only consuming the cheapest pop and porn.

My Russian/Chinese mother, a painter and architect, has always told me, ever since I was a child:

“Even if you end up being an abstract painter, you cannot cheat the basics: you have to first learn how to draw a face, a human body. You have to know the classics, philosophy… Only then you can let your fantasy to go wild.”

Now, with the repulsive era of the COVID-19, we are all grounded.

Time to catch up on what we have been neglecting, in terms of those intellectual inputs.

We are seated down on our sofas, we open our laptops, ready to download great films and music, and… and… nothing!

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Go to Netflix and try to order something very basic, like films belonging to the brilliant Japanese new way cinema. Try to watch the latest, incredible Iranian contemporary film, or some wonderful Czech masterpieces such as “On the Roof”, or “Terrorist Woman” (“Teroristka, in Czech”).

You will not succeed.

Go to Apple TV, and you will encounter the same result, “almost nothing”.

Sure, you can still watch some excellent international films if you fly the Emirates, or Air France, but remember, you are grounded!

In a panic, you rush to YouTube, only to discover that if you speak Russian or Czech or Spanish or Chinese, you can watch the best from these countries, mostly for free, but only in their original tongues, no subtitles. But if you want to share them with your friends and family members, who rely on English, you will only encounter trailers and short excerpts.

How many languages do my readers speak? I understand 8, at most 9. Therefore, I cannot watch films in Vietnamese, Chinese, Farsi. They all have excellent directors.

Countries like Russia and China are making all their classic films available, and for all, right there, online. But the U.S.-U.K. censors and greedy distributors make sure that you will never be able to watch them for free, or even for a fee, in English or with English subtitles.

You are supposed to watch Hollywood crap, and toothless BBC upgraded sitcoms. You don’t like it? Tough luck!

At some point, you start frantically searching for different ways of how to get your hands on the important works of art.

Many, after several days of futile attempts and searches, simply give up and begin to watch whatever shit is available.

For years and decades, like a beaver, I have been accumulating DVDs and CDs, from all over the world. At present I have some 800 CDs, between Asia and Latin America, and hundreds of DVDs, even VHSs.

There is a reason for it – and I always knew that there would be. I do not trust the regime.

I have never relied on the electronic formats of films and music, or on storing my stuff in some ‘cloud’ and on sticks, or hoping that what I want would always be available through Amazon, YouTube, Netflix, Apple TV and other brutal businesses.

At this moment, my predictions have come true: you cannot even watch Fellini’s La Dolce Vita on Apple TV! Or, forget about the best films made by Pasolini, early (socialist realism) films by Kurosawa, 1930’s Shanghai New Wave, or most of the masterpieces by Tarkovsky.

Yes, I have accumulated a tremendous film and music library, in all formats.

I repeat: I simply don’t trust the Western regime.

Especially now, when making the world population dumber and dumber, more and more complacent, is becoming, as it appears to me, the main goal of the Western apparatchiks.

Remember when they created those “zones” for DVDs? That was the beginning. Our planet was fragmented, in the name of business, and of copyright protection. But in fact, the reason was absolutely clear: people were not supposed to understand each other. They were not supposed to understand directly how the others saw the world. Only the “hubs” like London, New York or Paris were allowed to decide and pre-chew, how the conquered part of humanity could interact, intellectually, culturally and ideologically.

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The books; oh yes, the books!

They have not started burning books, yet, as they did in Ray Bradbury’s novel “Fahrenheit 451”. I repeat, not yet.

But the system has made sure that books which even slightly challenge the system are hardly made available to the public.

It goes without saying that I made sure to count on two massive personal libraries, in both Asia and in Latin America.

Remember, they told you how ‘un-ecological’ printing paper books really was? Funny, you were never told how toxic tablets, computers and mobile phones are. What you were also never told is that if you begin to rely fully on electronic books, the tap can be closed, at any moment, and doing what you do, you will be locked out from the information.

In Asia and South America, I accumulated thousands of essential (and not so essential) books. And I am a proud co-publisher of a small, but vigorous publishing house Badak Merah (‘Red Rhino’). And I never agree to publish any of my own, more than 20 books in 35 languages so far, electronically, before they are first printed on paper.

These days, paradoxically, unless you live in London or Paris, New York, but also Moscow, Beijing or Havana, the chances are that you will not get books of your choice in those huge, bookstore chains, at least at the first attempt.

You will get bombarded from the moment you enter the store, with junk, pop, and feel-good stuff, until they distract you from all the serious, essential topics.

Actually, I am not even sure that in the West, these days, it is possible to build a great personal library, from scratch, anymore!

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Yet, it is almost impossible to analyze “emergencies” (both real and ‘injected’) like the coronavirus, without consulting philosophers and the above-mentioned novelists, like Saramago, Camus and Bradbury.

To understand Chinese and Russian philosophers would be very handy for comprehending, why both countries have so successfully combated the virus, and are now helping dozens of nations all over the world; even those that have been tormenting them for years and decades. To read and understand Cuban revolutionary, internationalist thinkers, would shed some light on the present situation, too.

But the chances are, you will not be allowed to do all that.

Yes, the taps are closing, and Westerners are increasingly resembling zombies, or, more precisely, ISIS.

Mostly, they cannot get their hands on important books that would make them think, analyze and understand. But most of the time, people don’t even have any desire to read, watch and listen to things that would help them to comprehend what is taking place around them, anymore.

Instead of listening to the human beings on all the continents, individuals, particularly those living in the West, predominantly hear only about themselves. It is some sort of “selfie-style” interaction with the world. Or a Porn Tube-style one, which relies more on one’s hand, than on one’s brain.

Individuals who live in this sort of realm, are taught to take simple commands, to react without thinking too much, and above all, to obey.

In the meantime, intellectual collapse is approaching; or it is already here.

Now, people like me, are realizing that they are not allowed to read, watch and listen to what they want, anymore. But at least we have already listened to a lot, before. And we have great ammunition of books, films, music.

We are still writing about what is happening.

But soon, perhaps very soon, the great majority of individuals, will stop to even worry about such topics. They will simply accept: shut up and accept, and read, watch and listen to what is pushed down their throats. Or, to use new terminology – they will self-quarantine, intellectually.

If such a scenario arrives, it will become irrelevant whether COVID-19 or some other epidemy is destroying our human race. Because it would not be a human race, anymore.

That is why, right now, we have to defend each and every human being, each life, whether sick or healthy, even if the person is 90 or 100 years old. And we have to defend great books, films and music, because in them is our knowledge, our humanity, as well as the key to our survival.

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This article was originally published on New Eastern Outlook.

Andre Vltchek is a philosopher, novelist, filmmaker and investigative journalist. He has covered wars and conflicts in dozens of countries. Five of his latest books are “China Belt and Road Initiative”,“China and Ecological Civilization”with John B. Cobb, Jr., “Revolutionary Optimism, Western Nihilism”, a revolutionary novel “Aurora” and a bestselling work of political non-fiction: “Exposing Lies Of The Empire”. View his other books here. Watch Rwanda Gambit, his groundbreaking documentary about Rwanda and DRCongo and his film/dialogue with Noam Chomsky “On Western Terrorism”. Vltchek presently resides in East Asia and Latin America, and continues to work around the world. He can be reached through his website, his Twitter and his Patreon. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research.

At a time when responsible leadership is vitally needed to deal with a national health and economic crisis, the US is led by an incompetent, self-serving, geopolitical know-nothing demagogue who’s indifferent toward public health, safety and welfare.

The US ship of state is rudderless, no courageous captain in charge to steer it safely through troubled waters.

Whatever the outcome of today’s unprecedented crisis in modern times, it’s highly likely that millions of ordinary Americans will be grievously hurt, many irreparably, because of an uncaring ship of state’s captain and crew — serving monied interests exclusively at the expense of the public welfare at a time when large-scale federal help is most needed no matter the cost.

Trump is the latest in a long line of US bellicose presidents — waging wars of aggression in multiple theaters, along with economic, financial, and medical wars on sovereign states unwilling to sacrifice their sovereign rights to US interests.

Iran is a prime target because it’s free from US control, hydrocarbon-rich, and Israel’s main regional rival.

Longstanding US plans aim to replace its legitimate government with pro-Western puppet rule — by whatever it takes for Washington to achieve its imperial objective no matter the human cost.

Along with his other faults, Trump is a congenital liar. On Wednesday, he turned truth on its head, tweeting:

“Upon information and belief, Iran or its proxies are planning a sneak attack on US troops and/or assets in Iraq,” adding:

“If this happens, Iran will pay a very heavy price, indeed!”

Upon information and belief, Iran or its proxies are planning a sneak attack on U.S. troops and/or assets in Iraq. If this happens, Iran will pay a very heavy price, indeed!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 1, 2020

Fact: Iran, formerly Persia, hasn’t attacked another country in centuries.

Fact: Its leadership threatens none now.

Fact: Its geopolitical agenda features the pursuit of peace, stability, and mutual cooperation with other nations — hostile actions toward none.

Fact: In contrast, the US under both right wings of its war party is permanently at war with invented enemies threatening no one — at home and abroad.

Fact: No nations threatened US national security since WW II ended, clearly none today.

Are Trump and hardliners surrounding him planning belligerent actions against Iran and/or other invented enemies as a diversionary tactic to try shifting public attention from homeland economic and public health duress to invented barbarians at our gates.

The Trump regime is waging all-out war on Iran by other means.

Its “maximum pressure” aims to inflict “maximum” pain and suffering on the Iranian people to turn them against their leadership.

Time and again, reality shows it doesn’t work. When people face crisis conditions because of war or other dire circumstances, they most often rally around their government for whatever for whatever help it can provide — because who else can they turn to.

It was true in Britain during the Nazi blitz, true as well in Libya during US-led NATO aggression, and true now in Syria and Iran.

Instead of winning hearts and minds in nations worldwide, Washington’s imperial agenda turned countless millions of people into US haters.

The Pentagon reportedly is planning for possible war on Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs) that are connected to the country’s military — falsely claiming they’re controlled by Iran, falsely calling Tehran a threat to US national security.

On Tuesday without supportive evidence, Pompeo accused “Shia militias” of attacking Americans in Iraq, falsely blaming Iran as a pretext for possible US war on Iraqi PMUs, along with stepped up hostile actions against Iran.

Separately, Pompeo’s spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus repeated the Big Lie that won’t die about an Iranian nuclear threat, knowing none exists.

She ignored repeated IAEA assessments and annual US intelligence community reports that Tehran’s legitimate nuclear program has no military component — in contrast to nuclear armed and dangerous Israel that gets no public attention.

In response to Trump regime threats, Press TV reported that Iran “stands ready to defend its interests in the region.”

Reuters cited an unnamed US intelligence source, falsely claiming that “a potential attack by Iran or Iran-backed forces had been building for some time” — citing no evidence because there is none.

On Wednesday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi denounced hostile Trump regime rhetoric and policies, saying:

“While the (UN) secretary-general and the international community are emphasizing the need for halting the tension-creating and warmongering measures amid the outbreak of coronavirus, (US) moves are against the official and announced will of the Iraqi government, parliament and people, create tensions, and could steer the regional situation towards (greater) instability and catastrophic conditions.”

Mousavi called for the Trump regime to withdraw its destabilizing forces from Iraq as its government and people demand.

According to former US intelligence officer Scott Ritter,

“Iran is prepared to defend itself using the totality of its defense resources,” adding:

“Any US move against Iran would be a miscalculation with devastating results.”

“Recent military moves in the region indicate that the US is preparing for some sort of major action in Iraq.”

US forces in Iraq were shifted from smaller bases to two larger ones — Al Qaim and Al Asad.

Air defense Patriot missiles are being installed on these bases — on the phony pretext of defending against an Iranian attack not forthcoming.

No evidence suggests Iran intends to attack US or other foreign interests anywhere.

Indisputable evidence shows that Washington is an unprecedented threat to humanity at home and abroad.

Instead of pursuing global leadership in combatting the COVID-19 public health emergency, winning hearts and minds at home and abroad, Trump regime actions are polar opposite.

It failed to address the crisis with all-out efforts contain it domestically and treat its infected citizens and residents.

Instead, it prioritized an unprecedented wealth transfer from ordinary Americans to its privileged class while mobilizing Pentagon forces for possible escalated aggression abroad.

It let a golden opportunity to win allies worldwide and supporters at home pass it by — because it failed to come to the aid of nations and people everywhere in need.

Its ability to create unlimited trillions of dollars digitally enables it to do what other nations can’t accomplish on their own.

Instead of choosing a constructive path, its policymakers went the other way, largely ignoring public need in deference to wealth and power interests.

Meanwhile, a COVID-19 health crisis festers at home, worsening daily, outbreaks and deaths mounting steadily.

US states and communities are unable to cope because of lack of enough personal protective equipment (PPE) and woefully inadequate help from Washington when it’s most needed.

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Award-winning author Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)

His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”—Viktor Frankl

We still have choices.

Just because we’re fighting an unseen enemy in the form of a virus doesn’t mean we have to relinquish every shred of our humanity, our common sense, or our freedoms to a nanny state that thinks it can do a better job of keeping us safe.

Whatever we give up willingly now—whether it’s basic human decency, the ability to manage our private affairs, the right to have a say in how the government navigates this crisis, or the few rights still left to us that haven’t been disemboweled in recent years by a power-hungry police state—we won’t get back so easily once this crisis is past.

The government never cedes power willingly.

Neither should we.

Every day brings a drastic new set of restrictions by government bodies (most have been delivered by way of executive orders) at the local, state and federal level that are eager to flex their muscles for the so-called “good” of the populace.

This is where we run the risk of this whole fly-by-night operation going completely off the rails.

It’s one thing to attempt an experiment in social distancing in order to flatten the curve of this virus because we can’t afford to risk overwhelming the hospitals and exposing the most vulnerable in the nation to unavoidable loss of life scenarios. However, there’s a fine line between strongly worded suggestions for citizens to voluntarily stay at home and strong-armed house arrest orders with penalties in place for non-compliance.

More than three-quarters of all Americans have now been ordered to stay at home and that number is growing as more states fall in line.

Schools have cancelled physical classes, many for the remainder of the academic year.

Many of the states have banned gatherings of more than 10 people.

At least three states (Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania) have ordered non-essential businesses to close.

In Washington, DC, residents face 90 days in jail and a $5,000 fine if they leave their homes during the coronavirus outbreak. Residents of Maryland, Hawaii and Washington State also risk severe penalties of up to a year in prison and a $5,000 fine for violating the stay-at-home orders. Violators in Alaska could face jail time and up to $25,000 in fines.

Kentucky residents are prohibited from traveling outside the state, with a few exceptions.

New York City, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., is offering its Rikers Island prisoners $6 an hour to help dig mass graves.

In San Francisco, cannabis dispensaries were included among the essential businesses allowed to keep operating during the city-wide lockdown.

New Jersey’s governor canceled gatherings of any number, including parties, weddings and religious ceremonies, and warned the restrictions could continue for weeks or months. One city actually threatened to prosecute residents who spread false information about the virus.

Oregon banned all nonessential social and recreational gatherings, regardless of size.

Rhode Island has given police the go-ahead to pull over anyone with New York license plates to record their contact information and order them to self-quarantine for 14 days.

South Carolina’s police have been empowered to break up any public gatherings of more than three people.

Of course, there are exceptions to all of these stay-at-home orders (in more than 30 states and counting), the longest of which runs until June 10. Essential workers (doctors, firefighters, police and grocery store workers) can go to work. Everyone else will have to fit themselves into a variety of exceptions in order to leave their homes: for grocery runs, doctor visits, to get exercise, to visit a family member, etc.

Throughout the country, more than 14,000 “Citizen-Soldiers” of the National Guard have been mobilized to support the states and the federal government in their fight against the coronavirus. While the Guard officials insist they have not been tasked with martial law, they are coordinating with the Pentagon, FEMA and the states/territories on COVID-19 response missions.

A quick civics lesson: Martial law is a raw exercise of executive power that can override the other branches of government and assume control over the functioning of a nation, state, or smaller area within a state. The power has been exercised by the president, as President Lincoln did soon after the start of the Civil War, and by governors, as was done in Idaho to quell a miner’s strike that broke out there in 1892.

In areas under martial law, all power rests with the military authority in charge. As British General Wellington wrote, “martial law” is not law at all, but martial rule; it abolishes all law and substitutes for it the will of the military commander. Military personnel are not bound by constitutional restrictions requiring a warrant, and may enter and search homes at without judicial authorization or oversight. Indeed, civil courts would no longer be functioning to hear citizen complaints or to enforce their constitutional rights.

Thus far, we have not breached the Constitution’s crisis point: martial law has yet to be overtly imposed (although an argument could be made to the contrary given the militarized nature of the American police state).

It’s just a matter of time before all hell breaks loose.

If this is not the defining point at which we cross over into all-out totalitarianism, then it is at a minimum a test to see how easily we will surrender.

Curiously enough, although Americans have been generally compliant with the government’s suggestions and orders with a few notable exceptions, there’s been a small groundswell of resistance within parts of the religious community over whether churches, synagogues and other religious institutions that hold worship services should be exempt from state-wide bans on mass gatherings. While many churches have resorted to drive-in services and live-streamed services for its congregants, others have refused to close their doors. One pastor of a 4,000-member church who stood his ground, claiming that the government’s orders violate his right to religious freedom, was arrested after holding multiple church services during which attendees were reportedly given hand sanitizer and made to keep a six-foot distance between family groups.

Screenshot from CNN

It’s an interesting test of the First Amendment’s freedom of assembly and religious freedom clauses versus the government’s compelling state interest in prohibiting mass gatherings in order to prevent the spread of the virus.

Generally, the government has to show a compelling state interest before it can override certain critical rights such as free speech, assembly, press, search and seizure, etc. Most of the time, it lacks that compelling state interest, but it still manages to violate those rights, setting itself up for legal battles further down the road.

These lockdown measures—on the right of the people to peaceably assemble, to travel, to engage in commerce, etc.—unquestionably restrict fundamental constitutional rights, which might pass muster for a short period of time, but can it be sustained for longer stretches legally?

That’s the challenge before us, of course, if these days and weeks potentially stretch into months-long quarantines.

For example, the First Amendment guarantees “the right of the people peaceably to assemble.”  While the freedom to travel has been specifically recognized only as in the context of interstate or international travel, the freedom of movement is implicit liberty given that government agents may not stop and question or search persons unless they have some legal justification.

As Supreme Court Justice William Douglas once wrote:

The right to travel is a part of the “liberty” of which the citizen cannot be deprived without the due process of law under the Fifth Amendment. . . .  Freedom of movement across frontiers in either direction, and inside frontiers as well, was a part of our heritage. Travel abroad, like travel within the country, may be necessary for a livelihood. It may be as close to the heart of the individual as the choice of what he eats, or wears, or reads. Freedom of movement is basic in our scheme of values.

As a rule, people are free to roam and loiter in public places and are not required to provide police with their identity or give an account of their purpose for exercising their freedom.

However, as with all constitutional rights, these freedoms, as the Courts have ruled, are not unqualified. Even content-based restrictions on speech are allowed under the First Amendment if the restriction is needed to serve a compelling government interest.

The Supreme Court long ago “distinctly recognized the authority of a state to enact quarantine laws and health laws of every description[.]” Such laws are an exercise of the state’s police power, and if there is a rational basis for believing they are needed to protect the public health, they will be deemed to serve a compelling government interest.

The point was made over 100 years ago in circumstances similar to today’s COVID-19 outbreak when a smallpox outbreak occurred in Cambridge, Mass., invoking a state law allowing localities to make vaccinations mandatory and enforceable by criminal penalties.  In upholding the law and local order against a claim that it violated the constitutional liberty to control one’s own body and health, the Supreme Court declared:

The possession and enjoyment of all rights are subject to such reasonable conditions as may be deemed by the governing authority of the country essential to the safety, health, peace, good order, and morals of the community. Even liberty itself, the greatest of all rights, is not unrestricted license to act according to one’s own will.

The Court went on to write that “[u]pon the principle of self-defense, of paramount necessity, a community has the right to protect itself against an epidemic of disease which threatens the safety of its members.”

Most states have enacted laws that recognize the need for prompt action in times of emergency, including epidemics, and have delegated the authority to and executive officer to take action to address that emergency.  For example, Tennessee law provides that the governor is given the power to issue orders that have the force and effect of law to address emergencies, which include disease outbreaks and epidemics. That state’s law similarly grants mayors or other local chief executive officers the power to issue orders and directives deemed necessary, including closing public facilities, in order to address civil emergencies.

Courts have ruled that they will defer to the decisions of an executive authority on the decision as to whether an emergency exists and whether the means employed to address the emergency are reasonable and legal, although there could be situations where a court would declare that the executive decision is arbitrary and unreasonable.

When governments act under their police power to control plagues and epidemics, those laws are valid even though they may restrict individuals in the exercise of constitutional rights.  As one legal scholar recently noted, the balance between individual rights and protection of the public “assumes that there will be times when there are truly compelling emergencies justifying severe measures. A global pandemic that spreads even among those who are asymptomatic and could exceed the capacity of the American health care system would appear to be just such a compelling situation.”

At the moment, the government believes it has a compelling interest—albeit a temporary one—in restricting gatherings, assemblies and movement in public in order to minimize the spread of this virus.

The key point is this: while we may tolerate these restrictions on our liberties in the short term, we should never fail to be on guard lest these one-time constraints become a slippery slope to a total lockdown mindset.

What we must guard against, more than ever before, is the tendency to become so accustomed to our prison walls—these lockdowns, authoritarian dictates, and police state tactics justified as necessary for national security—that we allow the government to keep having its way in all things, without any civic resistance or objections being raised.

Martin Niemoller learned that particular lesson the hard way.

A German military officer turned theologian, Niemoller was an early supporter of Hitler’s rise to power, having believed his promises to protect the church and not allow pogroms against the Jewish people. It didn’t take long for Hitler to break those promises, but by the time the German people realized they had been double-crossed, it was too late.

As Niemoller warned:

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

The lesson for those of us housebound and watching from a distance as the Fourth Reich emerges from the shadows is this: all freedoms hang together.

Niemoller’s warning for our modern age would probably go something like this: First the government went after the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, and I did not object, because I had nothing to hide. Then they went after the right to not be spied upon, and I did not object, because I had done nothing wrong. Then they went after the right to criticize the government, and I still did not object, because I had nothing to criticize them for. Then they went after the right to speak—worship—and assemble freely, and I did not object, because I had nothing to say, no one to worship, and nowhere to congregate. By the time the government came to lock me up, there was no one left to set me free.

In other words, don’t be naïve: the government will use this crisis to expand its powers far beyond the reach of the Constitution. The Justice Department has already signaled its desire to suspend parts of the Constitution indefinitely.

That’s how it starts.

Travel too far down that slippery slope, and there will be no turning back.

Curiously enough, although Americans have not been inclined to agree on anything much lately, given the extreme polarization of the country politically, a recent survey indicates that “people of both parties seem rather okay with undermining core civil liberties in order to fight the pandemic.”

This way lies madness.

As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, if you wait to speak out—stand up—and resist until the government’s lockdowns impact your freedoms personally, it could be too late.

What would be far worse, however, is handing over your freedoms voluntarily—without even a semblance of protest—to a government that cares little to nothing about your freedoms or your lives.

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Note to readers: please click the share buttons above or below. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.

This article was originally published on The Rutherford Institute.

Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His new book Battlefield America: The War on the American People  is available at www.amazon.com. Whitehead can be contacted at [email protected]. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research.

“Hell is empty and all the devils are here” – William Shakespeare (The Tempest Act 1 Scene 2)

War has always depended on a reliable system to spread its propaganda. The Arthashastra written by Chankya (350-283 BCE) who was chief advisor to the Emperor Chandragupta (the first ruler of the Mauryan Empire) discusses propaganda and how to disperse and apply it in warfare. It is one of the oldest accounts of the essentialism of propaganda in warfare.

Propaganda is vital in times of war because it is absolutely imperative that the people, who often need to make the greatest sacrifices and suffer the most, believe that such a war is justified and that such a war will provide them security. To the degree that they believe this to be true, the greater the degree of sacrifice and suffering they are willing to submit themselves for said “promised security”.

It is crucial that when the people look at the “enemy” they see something sub-human, for if they recognise that said “enemy” has in fact humanity, the jig is up so to speak.

And thus we are bombarded day after day, hour after hour of reminders as to why the “enemy” is not human like us, not compassionate like us, not patient, just and wise like us.

No doubt, war has been a necessary response when tyranny has formed an army to fight for its cause, but I would put forth that most wars have been rather unnecessary and downright manipulated for the design of a small group of people.

During WWI, on Dec 25^th 1914, something rather unexpected occurred and a series of widespread unofficial ceasefires along the Western Front took place between the French/British soldiers and the German soldiers. Some even ventured into “no man’s land”, given its name since none left it alive, to mingle with the “enemy” and exchange food and souvenirs. There were joint burial ceremonies and prisoner swaps. A game of football took place as well. It is said that these truces were not unique to the Christmas period but that they were much more widespread during the holiday season.

These fraternisations would understandably make it quite difficult to return to combat against one another…for no apparently good reason. Some units needed to be relocated since they had developed friendships with the opposing side and now refused to fight them.

The lesson was quickly learned and propaganda was heavily pumped down the throats of the Allied countries, and by the course of just a few years, they no longer viewed the Germans as human.

The CIA’s Family Jewels and Operation Mockingbird

For us to understand the implications of modern propaganda and how it is used in warfare today, our story starts post-WWII with Churchill’s announcement of the “Iron Curtain” which launched the Cold War and has kept the East and West divided to this day.

Quickly after the Cold War was announced by Churchill, it was necessary to create a fervor of fear and paranoia amongst the American people in order to have them quickly forget the fact that the Russians were their greatest allies during both WWI and WWII, and to replace it with the image of a ghoulish race of boogeymen.

If Americans were to remember that the Russians had fought valiantly during WWII and had paid by far the largest sacrifice to the cause, that they had in fact been their comrades in arms against the brutality of fascism, if this were remembered then the Cold War division could never occur, and that was something that could not be tolerated by Churchill and the Empire. Thus terror was unleashed on the American people and McCarthyism was given precedence over the people’s right to question and form conclusions for themselves. That sort of thing could not be tolerated when the “enemy” could be anywhere; they could be your neighbour, your child’s teacher, your co-worker…your partner.

In order to combat the “threat” of Soviet “propaganda” entering the U.S. and seducing Americans, Operation Mockingbird was created as a form of “control” over information dissemination during the period of McCarthyism. Operation Mockingbird was an “alleged” CIA program that was started in the early 1950s in order to control the narrative of the news. Though this role has never been confirmed entirely, in the CIA Family Jewels report compiled in the mid-1970s, it is confirmed that Project Mockingbird did exist as a CIA operation and that it was guilty of wire-tapping journalists in Washington.

At the helm of this project was none other than CIA Director Allen Dulles, an enemy of JFK, who by the early 1950s “allegedly” oversaw the media network and had major influence over 25 newspapers and wire agencies. Its function was to have the CIA write reports that would be used by a network of cooperating “credible” reporters. By these “credible” reporters spreading the CIA dictated narrative, it would be parroted by unwitting reporters (mockingbirds) and a successful echo chamber would be created across the world.

The Office of Policy Coordination (OPC), originally named Office of Special Projects but that was thought to conspicuous, was a covert operation wing of the CIA and was created by the United States National Security Council (NSC). For those who are unfamiliar with the origins of the NSC and its close relationship with the CIA, who was born on the same day, refer to my paper on the subject.

According to Deborah Davis’ biography of Katherine Graham (the owner of Washington Post), the OPC created Operation Mockingbird in response to addressing Soviet propaganda and included as part of its CIA contingency respected members from Washington Post, The New York Times, Newsweek, CBS and others.

The Family Jewels report was an investigation made by the CIA to investigate…the CIA, spurred in response to the Watergate Scandal and the CIA’s unconstitutional role in the whole affair. The investigation of the CIA would include any other actions that were deemed illegal or inappropriate spanning from the 1950s-mid 1970s.

We are told “most” of the report was declassified on June 25, 2007 (30 years later) hoping that people would have lost interest in the whole brouhaha. Along with the release of the redacted report was included a six-page summary with the following introduction:

“The Central Intelligence Agency violated its charter for 25 years until revelations of illegal wiretapping, domestic surveillance, assassination plots, and human experimentation led to official investigations and reforms in the 1970s.”

The most extensive investigation of the CIA relations with news media was conducted by the Church Committee, a U.S. Senate select committee in 1975 that investigated the abuses committed by the CIA, NSA, FBI, and IRS. The Church Committee report confirmed abundant CIA ties in both foreign and domestic news media.

It is very useful that there exists an official recognition that false news was not only being encouraged by the CIA under the overseeing of the NSC during the Cold War period, but that the CIA was complicit in actually detailing the specific narrative that they wanted disseminated, and often going so far as to write the narrative and have a “credible” reporter’s name stamped on it.

But the question begs, “Did the Cold War ever end?” and if not, why should we believe that the CIA’s involvement in such activities is buried in its past and that it has “reformed” its old ways?

Western Journalists for Hire: How the CIA Buys News

In order to answer this question, let us visit the sad case of Udo Ulfkotte. Udo Ulfkotte (image on the right) is a well-known German journalist and author of numerous books. He worked for 25 years as a journalist, 17 of which were for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), including his role as editor. In his 2014 book “Journalists for Hire: How the CIA Buys News” Ulfkotte goes over how the CIA along with German Intelligence (BND) were guilty of bribing journalists to write articles that either spun the truth or were completely fictitious in order to promote a pro-western, pro-NATO bent, and that he was one of those bought journalists.

In an interview, Ulfkotte describes how he finally built up the nerve to publish the book, after years of it collecting dust, in response to the erupting crisis in Ukraine stating

“I felt that the right time had come to finish it and publish it, because I am deeply worried about the Ukrainian crisis and the possible devastating consequences for all of Europe and all of us…I am not at all pro-Russia, but it is clear that many journalists blindly follow and publish whatever the NATO press office provides. And this type of information and reports are completely one-sided”.

In another interview Ulfkotte stated:

“it is clear as daylight that the agents of various Services were in the central offices of the FAZ, the place where I worked for 17 years. The articles appeared under my name several times, but they were not my intellectual product. I was once approached by someone from German Intelligence and the CIA, who told me that I should write about Gaddafi and report how he was trying to secretly build a chemical weapons factory in Libya. I had no information on any of this, but they showed me various documents, I just had to put my name on the article. Do you think this can be called journalism? I don’t think so.”

Ulfkotte has publicly stated:

“I am ashamed of it. The people I worked for knew from the get-go everything I did. And the truth must come out. It’s not just about FAZ, this is the whole system that’s corrupt all the way.”

Udo Ulfkotte has since passed away. He died January 2017, found dead in his home, it is said by a heart attack. His body was quickly after cremated and thus prevented any possibility of an autopsy occurring.

You Can’t Teach An Old Dog New Tricks

The Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act is a bipartisan bill that was passed into law in December 2016, it was initially called Countering Information Warfare Act. It was included together with the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This bill was brought into effect just weeks before Trump was to enter office….hmmm, foreshadowing much?

Soon after the 2016 U.S. election, the Washington Post led the charge asserting that it was due to Russian propaganda that the U.S. elections turned out the way it did, that is, that Hillary had somehow, inconceivably, lost to Donald Trump and that the American people had been turned against her like a child caught in the middle of a messy divorce case. But there is no need here to set the record straight on Hillary, when Hillary herself has done suffice damage to any illusion of credibility she once had. That ultimately not even Hillary could hide the fact that her closet full of skeletons turned out to be the size of a catacomb.

But we are told that citizens do not know what is best for one’s self. That they cannot be trusted with “sensitive” information and in accordance act in a “responsible” manner, that is, to have a strong enough stomach to do what is “best” for their country.

And therefore, fear not subjects of the land, for the Global Engagement Center (GEC) is here to make those hard decisions for you. Don’t know what to think about a complicated subject? GEC will tell you the right way!

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would allow for the Secretary of State to collaborate with the Secretary of Defense, and other Federal agencies in the year 2017 to create the Global Engagement Center (GEC). The GEC’s purpose in life is to fight propaganda from foreign governments and publicize the nature of ongoing foreign propaganda and disinformation operations against the U.S. and other countries.

Let us all take a moment to thank the GEC for such a massive task in the cause for justice all around the world.

The GEC had a very slow start in its first year, however, it has been gaining momentum in the last year under Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who seems especially excited over the hiring of Lea Gabrielle as special envoy and coordinator of GEC.

Mike Pompeo was the CIA Director from 2017-2018. On April 15, 2019, Pompeo participated in a discussion at the Texas A&M University where he voluntarily offered the admission that though West Points’ cadet motto is “You will not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do.”, his training under the CIA was the very opposite, stating “I was the CIA Director. We lied, we cheated, we stole. It was like we had entire training courses. (long pause) It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment”.

This is apparently the man for the job of dealing with matters of “truth” and “justice”.

Lea Gabrielle was approved for her position by Mike Pompeo, what are her “qualifications”? Well, Gabrielle is also CIA trained, and while assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), she “directed and conducted global clandestine strategic intelligence collection operations.” Gabrielle also “deployed in tactical anti-terrorist operations in hostile environments”. After 12 years of active duty service, Lea Gabrielle became a television news journalist, who worked at NBC and FOX News.

Noticing a pattern?

The CIA really does not have the best track record for their role in “managing” foreign wars and counter-insurgency activities. In fact, they have been caught rather red handed in fueling such crisis situations. And these are the people who are deciding what information is fit for the American public, and western public in general, and what is not fit for their ears.

Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, See No Evil

On March 5, 2020, Lea Gabrielle testified on the role of GEC in countering state-sponsored and non-state propaganda and disinformation. Gabrielle states:

“We have the full support of Secretary Pompeo who is committed to deploying a broad suite of tools to stop America’s adversaries from using disinformation, malign propaganda, and other tools to undermine free societies.”

She goes on to acknowledge that the hearing is focused on countering Russian government and CCP disinformation and propaganda. She then goes on to outline her criticisms of both governments with no factual detail or evidence but rather generalised accusations and criticisms, obviously pulling from her experience as a news journalist for NBC.

Following this, Gabrielle proceeds to outline her “rules of engagement” in countering this offensive with what seems to be the beginnings of McCarthyism 2.0, amounting to a threat to anyone who dares not take a hard stance against Russia and China, that such a person will be considered complicit in essentially committing treason. Hell, if Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard (who was unconstitutionally prohibited from participating in the final democratic presidential debates) have both already been accused of being a Russian agent, what can we expect for the average Joe?

Gabrielle concludes,

“Both the Russian government and the CCP view censorship, media manipulation, and propaganda as appropriate tools to control public opinion. Both exploit open, democratic societies to further their own ends while tightening controls around their own countries.”

Don’t worry, the CIA will eventually admit that they are elbow deep in all of the above, it just won’t be released until 30 years from now…In the meantime, I wouldn’t believe everything you read in the newspaper to stoke the fires for another war.

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Note to readers: please click the share buttons above or below. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.

Cynthia Chung is a lecturer, writer and co-founder and editor of the Rising Tide Foundation (Montreal, Canada).

Featured image is from Nathaniel St. Clair

While predominately Democratic states appear to be in more of a lock down, millions of Americans continue to dutifully hunker down in a ‘medical’ martial law.  The full  realization of the effects of the coronavirus has only just begun to impact their reality with major economic or health reversals.  Yet ahead lies the discovery that the US will not be the same country it was prior to covid-19  has not yet dawned on many. 

Nothing about this catastrophe has, in any way, limited the US Congress, once thought to be subservient to the will of The People, from wasting any time adopting  the most massive $2.2Trillion ‘emergency’ Stimulus  Giveaway (HR 6074) in American history – within a matter of days.

Citing the exploitation of the coronavirus event as rationale for what never could have otherwise been accomplished, former MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan called the giveaway an “abomination beyond comprehension…using taxpayer money to strangle taxpayers while calling it a bailout for taxpayers.”  The full extent of the  2,232 page Great Corporate Financial and Power Consolidation will be recognized only after the money has been doled out.  It remains to be seen exactly how the new reality will impact 99% of American society who may find themselves  more expendable in ways not previously anticipated.  Some may then realize how we have been thoroughly snookered.

Just as the Patriot Act and the TSA were adopted in response to 911, never to be repealed even as the ‘terrorists’ were defeated, elements of the ‘medical’ martial law will likely remain in place including  the innocuous sounding ‘social distancing’ with limits on group gatherings – as well as  the erosion of  more civil liberties and increased  censorship.  There are also those who believe this chaos is cover for a Deep State take-down and still others who beieve this is a DNC/Intel effort to take down Trump. .

Under the guise of providing a token $1200 per person, $500 per child,  creating one giant Omnibus legislative package was preferred by TPTB so the public would not so easily notice the contrast between the pittance going to the People Programs as compared to the stark rapacious nature of the fiscal giveaway.

Far beyond the scope of historical corruption at the same time the entire nation is facing a widespread crisis, both the Democrats and Republics have betrayed their own constituents.  The real beneficiaries of Congressional largesse are the Big Banks and financial institutions as well as ‘businesses critical to national security’ including Amazon.  The slippery slope  allow the banks to pass on taxpayer generosity to  American corporations and the ruling class so that they might buy up those distressed assets for pennies on the dollar as they further consolidate their market position.  More than a trivial $500 billion, as being reported by Big Media, $425 billion of which will be capitalized by the Fed Bank into (voila!) $4.2 Trillion.   David Dayen compares the current fiscal calamity with 2008 and estimates the final tab will end up closer to a $6 Trillion gift as a five member oversight board with no subpoena power or statutory authority twiddles its thumbs.

Two Members of Congress Vote No – Out of 535

Two days before the Senate vote on March 25th,  Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky) tested positive for coronavirus.  Two days later, he cast the only Senate vote against the ‘emergency’ Omnibus – contrary to media reports.

As usual, immediately after the vote,  the presiding officer in the Chair announced the final vote as 96-0 while the official roll call lists the final vote as 96 – 1 with Paul as s No and three Senators Not Voting.

Reminiscent of how bills are adopted in a banana republic did not stop  Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) from claiming a ‘unanimous’ vote that was not unanimous.  With more than a tinge of  self-serving bravado, McConnell termed adoption  as ”one of the most contentious partisan period in the nation’s history to pass this (alleged) rescue package 100-0” when, in fact, there was minimal disagreement and his vote count was deliberately misleading.

It is clear that there was a prevailing Order of the Day as a  concerted campaign to present a unanimous vote from a unified Congress to the American people as  proof that the Congress was acting  in unison,  effectively addressing the crisis when, in reality, they were giving away the store. .

Yet the official roll call register not only listed Sen. Paul who had the integrity to vote his conscience but that  neither Sen. Bernie Sanders nor Sen. Elizabeth Warren were willing to do the same.   Both self described opponents of corporate handouts, each abandoned their oft-repeated mantra to their constituents and to their campaign supporters. Both are listed as Not Voting even though both were present during the debate and had every opportunity to place a “Hold’ on the bill at any time.  Sanders played a smoke and mirror game with Republicans who threatened to stop the bill on a union unemployment issue; with Bernie then threatening he would also put a ‘hold’ only to back off as Republicans satisfied their concern.

Big Media continued the spin that the Senate had adopted the Omnibus  as a unanimous vote.

The Paul diagnosis, although asymptomatic, brought to mind the tainted anthrax letters sent to Majority Leader Tom Daschle and Sen. Patrick Leahy  who both threatened to oppose the Patriot Act in 2001.  The anthrax was later confirmed to be of same genetic material as created at Ft. Detrick with one scientist committing suicide.  Currently, Ft. Detrick is central to George Webb’s revelations regarding coronavirus as a 5G weaponized biological  virus..

On the House side, its leadership  planned a voice vote under a unanimous consent  agreement which would have allowed  a mere handful of Members to be present until Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky) threw a monkey wrench in the works.  Massie requested a recorded vote  which required a majority of House Members to be present.  Ultimately 216 Members attended spouting vociferous protests as if while millions of Americans were trudging to work each day, prima donas in the House should be granted special dispensation.

Opposing the Omnibus because it would add to the $23 trillion US National Debt, Massie stated that he wanted to “make sure our republic doesn’t die by unanimous consent in an empty chamber.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Massie a ‘dangerous nuisance” for insisting on a roll call vote with Massie pushing back that “Pelosi and McCarthy are still working together to block a recorded vote just to insulate members of Congress from accountability“ and citing the “biggest spending bill in the history of mankind, and no recorded vote?” With President Trump joining in calling Massie a ‘third rate grandstander,” as it takes one to know one.  Currently, a Democrat has registered as a Republican to challenge Massie to a primary for his House seat.

Meanwhile, despite an impassioned plea for the camera, AOC derailed “crumbs for our families,’ and the “largest corporate bailout with few strings as possible,” and yet voted exactly as Joe Crowley would have voted. Neither she nor any of The Squad  nor any member of the Progressive Caucus including the newly-discredited Rep. Tulsi Gabbard did any thing to stop  the insatiable bounty.

CEO’s Take a Hike

There was a sort-of warning for those who pay close attention to business minutiae when Really Graceful informed  us that 219 big time CEO’s, the most ever in one month, stepped down from their Fortune 500 companies in February as Jeff Bezos dumped $4.1 billion worth of Amazon shares.  

At the same time, the dubious Bill Gates resigned from the Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway Boards.  All that on the heels of 1,300 high level CEOs leaving their positions in 2019.  Is it plausible to consider that all these resignations were spontaneous or coincidental and that none of these business elites had a heads up of the 2020 market crash that was to come. These are the folks who are in the loop and privy to the grapevine with the assurance  they will all land on their feet.                                              

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As we are living in a time of extremes, there was always the possibility that as the Paradigm Shift approached, there was going to be a significant level of chaos and stress  as well as promising a dramatic change in the nature of reality.  It is an old adage that where there is no pain, there is no gain.

There was little way to know exactly what to expect although the disintegration  of form, structure and institutions fit well with revelations of corruption at the FBI and DOJ.  It is certain that with the onset of the coronavirus,  one level of the Shift has occurred although not in a manner most of us hoped for. This current crisis is but one Chapter of what promises to be a reawakening of humanity to throw off the shackles of war, corruption and tribulations and ultimately to embrace a world of peace, compassion and justice.

Along the way, as the disruption has a cleansing effect, external chaos is a reflection for the inner transformation that must occur.  Rather than withdraw into  apathy, bitterness  or alienation, it will be essential to dig deep and find our own inner grit and resilience.  After healing from this manufactured crisis, is to re-engage in society as a stronger, more dynamic and more powerful being than ever before.  The evolution of humanity is to never give up our hopes and ideals and be willing to persevere as it will be your turn to push back . Do not allow yourself the luxury of being defeated, Coronavirus  is not the final word.

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Renee Parsons has been a member of the ACLU’s Florida State Board of Directors and President of the ACLU Treasure Coast Chapter. She has been an elected public official in Colorado, an environmental lobbyist with Friends of the Earth and staff member in the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC.  Renee is also a student of the Quantum Field.

Featured image is from rouzer.house.gov

On March 12, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency in Michigan ordering public buildings and educational institutions closed for three weeks.

By the Monday March 16, restaurants were closed for dining and open on a carry out basis only.

Streets soon became deserted in densely populated areas in Detroit and other major municipalities in southeastern Michigan and around the state. Later an order-in-place declaration went into effect encouraging people to remain indoors and to limit their movement to personal exercise outside the home and shopping for necessities such as food and medicines.

Food outlets providing assistance to poverty stricken residents were the scene of long lines and limited supplies. Over the course of the second and third weeks of March, millions were thrown out of work, many of whom are not eligible to collect unemployment benefits.

Detroit, which has undergone tremendous socio-economic upheaval over the last five decades, has been projected by the corporate media and local political officials as a center for financial revival and innovation. Yet the poverty rates among the majority African American population have remained constant during the recent period characterized by a contrived imposition of emergency management, municipal bankruptcy and privatization.

In regard to the actual COVID-19 cases in Detroit, the figures indicate that the city has the largest cluster of infections in the state. Many high-profile residents have fallen ill and died.

As of March 31, there were 7,615 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state of Michigan with 259 deaths. Most of the deaths have been in Wayne and Oakland counties which encompass and border the city of Detroit.

Makeshift testing centers have been established outside Beaumont Hospital in a suburb of Detroit, Farmington, and at the previous State Fairgrounds on Woodward Avenue inside the city. Hospitals are cautioning people to not come in unless the situation is serious. Many people have been diagnosed online through a process established by local medical centers.

Flint, another majority African American municipality, located 70 miles north of Detroit, has also been the center of numerous infections and deaths. The city suffered enormously under former Republican Governor Rick Snyder when emergency management was imposed in both Flint and Detroit which mandated the fracturing of the water systems leading to the poisoning of the nearly 100,000 residents.

A suburb of Detroit, Ecorse, is inflicted with a disproportionate number of COVID-19 confirmed cases. Hospitals throughout the Detroit metropolitan area are reaching capacity.

The transition of the TCF Conference Center located downtown on the Detroit River, is currently being converted into a makeshift field hospital in anticipation of a rapid surge in serious and critical cases. Other locations such as the Detroit Pistons training center located between the New Center area and Midtown is being repurposed as well.

Reports of COVID-19 cases are circulating through informal social media networks which paint a vivid portrait of social disruption and economic peril. Some have posted videos of themselves while ill discussing the symptoms and the progression of the illness. Others are celebrating their recovery as an encouragement to those who are still incapacitated.

According to Bridge Magazine published in the state of Michigan:

“Across metro Detroit, the epicenter of the coronavirus in Michigan, the pandemic has entered a new and terrifying phase. On Monday (March 31), Detroit’s infection rate and death toll skyrocketed with 259 newly confirmed cases, pushing the city’s total past 1,800, with 52 deaths. Across the three metro counties of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb, there are more than 5,200 cases and 158 deaths. Community leaders say it is becoming difficult to find a Detroiter who doesn’t know someone who is infected with the virus. Detroit politicians and civic figures are listed among the sickened or dead. Even the city’s police chief is barking orders from the solitude of quarantine.”

Poverty, Racism and National Oppression as Risk Factors

Detroit, Flint, Highland Park, Pontiac and other municipalities with majorities and near-majorities of African Americans have long been subjected to racist policy decisions which have left these communities disproportionately jobless, impoverished and disenfranchised. The absence of healthcare is a direct result of inadequate employment benefits and the failure of the United States to adopt a guaranteed national medical program which covers all people regardless of employment and income status.

The problem of testing in Detroit along with other cities is paramount. Testing on a mass scale has not been available. Patients have been requesting testing after exhibiting suspected symptoms of COVID-19. Nonetheless, the practice was to require those asking to be tested to present a prescription from their physician. Of course this ignores the reality that untold numbers of the population of Detroit are without healthcare coverage.

Now with public testing facilities established, this situation can be challenged by community organizations and healthcare advocates. Everyone should be eligible for testing largely because the overall public health of the city is at serious risk. With the closing of the City’s Health Department during the capital-driven emergency management and bankruptcy scheme during 2013-2014, previously housed at Herman Kiefer Hospital in the Virginia Park District on the west side, the administration of corporate-imposed Mayor Mike Duggan is limited in any attempt to mobilize a citywide response to the pandemic. If this pandemic had struck a decade ago, Herman Kiefer could have easily served as a mass testing and treatment location.

Moreover, the policies enacted by the state and city governments over the recent period have essentially degraded the capacity of the authorities to effectively address a crisis. Billions of dollars in abatements and tax captures have been awarded to the leading capitalist entities which have transform the downtown area and other districts into playgrounds for tourists and wealthier residents.

The corporate image projected nationally and internationally of the contemporary situation in Detroit does not take into consideration the continuing exploitation and oppression of the majority of city residents. Massive home foreclosures, evictions, utility shutoffs, water service terminations, the lack of adequate public transportation, gentrification, the rapid increase in property taxes and rents have left the masses in a state of disempowerment and marginalization.

People gather to protest against the mass water shut-offs to Detroit citizens behind in their payments, July 18, 2014.

Although the city administration claims that the rates of poverty has decreased in the city, a study just four years ago noted:

“’The number of extremely poor neighborhoods in the Detroit region grew almost fivefold between 2000 and 2010-14,’ said Elizabeth Kneebone, a fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program, who co-wrote the report. ‘In metro Detroit’s case, almost every neighborhood that crossed the 40% poverty rate threshold after 2000 did so as it shed population. … Poverty became more concentrated both as people with the means to move out of declining neighborhoods and as … the regional economy pushed more neighborhood residents below the poverty line.’”

Community Response to the Pandemic

Detroit organizations are attempting to keep up with the rapidly unfolding situation where communities are being further destabilized as a result of the healthcare and economic crises. Groups such as We the People of Detroit have been distributing water to people without service. The state and city has stated it is going to restore water to all residents in Detroit and around Michigan although the process is not taking place fast enough for activists and those directly affected.

The Moratorium NOW! Coalition and the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice (MECAWI) have held their weekly organizing meetings by conference call since March 16. The organizations issued a set of demands calling upon Governor Whitmer to exercise her executive powers to guarantee housing, utilities, water, medical care and economic stability to all residents of the state of Michigan.

In cities such as Detroit and other Michigan municipalities, unemployment rates have skyrocketed. This is being replicated across the U.S. where many production and service facilities are closed along with educational institutions.

Within a matter of three weeks the number of infections have exceed 200,000 nationwide. Of that number, 4,500 have succumbed to the virus. Projections presented by U.S. governmental agencies and the White House Task Force, suggest that up to 2.2 million people could perish before the pandemic is arrested.

As the infection rates and deaths escalate, working people and the oppressed will be demanding concrete solutions to the social dislocation which is intensifying. Even with the current stimulus package passed by Congress, many workers, retirees, people with disabilities and their families and communities will be in need of radical social reconstruction policies.

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Abayomi Azikiwe is the editor of Pan-African News Wire. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research.

Featured image: Detroit Henry Ford Hospital Main Campus in New Center area reaching capacity due to COVID-19 pandemic; all images in this article are from the author

When WW II ended, fascist tyranny wasn’t defeated.

It was transplanted from Berlin, Tokyo, and Rome to the US — under new management.

Today it’s infinitely more menacing to world peace, stability, equity, justice, and the rule of law because of super-weapons able to destroy planet earth and all its life forms in a matter of days if unleashed full-force.

All nations not bending to Washington’s will at the expense of their sovereign rights are on its target list for regime change — by hot wars, economic wars, financial wars, and other means.

Venezuela is a prime US target because of its world’s large oil reserves, a prize both right wings of its war party covet.

It’s also because of Bolivarian model democracy, an equitable system the US tolerates nowhere, especially not at home.

Its majority hardliners want it replaced with US-controlled and exploited puppet rule.

Everything US regimes threw at Venezuela since Hugo Chavez’s December 1998 election as president failed.

On Tuesday, Pompeo unveiled the latest Trump regime anti-Bolivarian social democracy scheme, fooling no members of Maduro’s government.

It includes a laundry list of demands no responsible leadership anywhere would accept — amounting to unconditional surrender and abandonment of the fundamental rights of all Venezuelans.

On the phony pretext of seeking democratic transition in a nation with the hemisphere’s model system, the scheme is all about replacing it with US-controlled fascist tyranny.

It calls for abolishing the constitutionally established National Constituent Assembly and seating three anti-Bolivarian National Assembly MPs accused of electoral fraud to give opposition lawmakers super-majority control of the body.

Venezuela’s Supreme Court ruled National Assembly actions null and void as long as these members are involved in instituting them.

The Trump regime also demands the following:

Release of prisoners convicted of crimes against the state falsely called “political prisoners.”

Departure of foreign forces from the country “immediately” — meaning Russia’s military presence — part of strategic partnership since 2001, currently involved in providing technical assistance, along with helping to protect Venezuela’s security and sovereign independence.

It also means removal of Cuban doctors, teachers, and other professionals involved in helping Venezuelans.

Replacing Venezuela’s democratic National Electoral Council (CNE) with a pro-Western one.

Establishment of a so-called “Council of State” with US controlled anti-government members sharing power with Bolivarian ones — headed by a “secretary general…who serves as interim president,” replacing Maduro and US-designated puppet Guaido.

“All powers assigned to the president by the Constitution will be vested exclusively in the Council of State.”

The “Council of State appoints a new cabinet.”

A so-called “Truth and Reconciliation Commission is established” to falsely hold Bolivarian officials accountable for US orchestrated crimes against the state and its people.

In “6 – 12 months,” US manipulated elections will be held to assure its control eliminates Bolivarian social democracy.

There’s more but you get the idea. The Trump regime seeks a total makeover of Venezuelan society.

It wants US control replacing governance of, by, and for all Venezuelans equitably — what Bolivarian rule is all about, polar opposite US policies that serve its privileged class exclusively at the expense of most others.

What Pompeo called a “man-made crisis in Venezuela” was made in and enforced by the US — war by other means on its people, aiming to cause maximum pain and suffering, along with wanting Venezuela’s economy crushed.

Below is the full same-day Maduro government response — translated to from Spanish to English:

The “Bolivarian Government reiterates that Venezuela is a free and sovereign country that does not accept tutelage from foreign governments.”

“The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has learned through the media of the presentation of a supposed ‘Framework for Democratic Transition’ by the United States Department of State today.”

“In this regard, the Bolivarian Government reiterates that Venezuela is a free, sovereign, independent and democratic country that does not accept, nor will it ever accept, any kind of tutelage from any foreign government.”

“The policy of the United States towards Venezuela has completely lost its way.”

“In one week, it has wandered among constant contradictions,”

“It ranges from extortion and threats against officials of the Bolivarian Government, including rewards for their capture; to the presentation of an outrageous agreement for the installation of a supposedly unconstitutional transitional government, ignoring the democratic will expressed by the Venezuelan people at the polls.”

“The pseudo American proposal confirms that the officials of that country are completely unaware of the Venezuelan legal system and the functioning of its institutions.”

“It is noteworthy, however, that they include the curious decision to remove the seat of the deputy illegally proclaimed as interim president, who was chosen by them in 2019 as the spearhead of their coup strategy and who has complied with the orders given from Washington, through the paths of violence and persistent conspiracy.”

“The actions of the Trump (regime) in the last few days against Venezuela cannot be categorized in any other way: They are miserable.”

“Trying to take geopolitical advantage in the midst of the most dreadful global pandemic can only come from the misery of people without the least sensitivity and social concern, especially considering that the people of the United States are one of the most affected in the world, given the resounding failure of that country’s health system and the erratic, improvised and inhumane handling of the pandemic by its rulers.”

It is precisely the Trump (regime) that must step aside, lifting the unilateral coercive measures that even its own legislators recognize that in practice prevent Venezuela from acquiring humanitarian supplies to confront Covid-19.”

“It is time for them to abandon their failed strategy of changing the government by force in Venezuela, to cease their continuous and obsessive aggression and to concentrate on their serious internal affairs.”

“Neither threats, nor extortion strategies, nor the attempt to impose false agreements will succeed in distracting the attention and energy of President Nicolás Maduro, his government, the Bolivarian National Armed Forces and the Venezuelan State as a whole, in protecting the people of Venezuela in such difficult times for humanity.”

“Venezuela will remain unscathed by any aggression and united in the defense of its sovereignty and independence.”

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Award-winning author Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)

His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

No nation in world history did more harm to more people over a longer duration than the US.

None more gravely threatens humanity’s survival today because of its rage to control planet earth, its resources and populations.

Is COVID-19 a US geopolitical/socio-economic experiment gone awry, or is it working as planned?

According to Dr. F. Perry Wilson:

“Think of COVID-19 as a fire burning in a forest. All of us are trees. The R0 (infection spread rate) is the wind speed. The higher it is, the faster the fire tears through the forest.”

If an infectious disease has an R0 of 2, it means an infected person will transmit it to two others on average.

To keep spreading, an infectious disease needs fuel. “We’re the fuel,” Wilson explained.

Shelter in place, social distancing, and lockdowns keep COVID-19 fires from setting the forest ablaze — whatever the R0.

The greater it is, the more important these draconian measures become.

Because individuals infected with COVID-19 can have symptoms or be asymptomatic, it’s hard gauging the true R0.

According to Wilson, “(t)he observed R0 is 2.5, enough to lead to widespread infection(s).”

The true R0 could be much higher because of asymptomatic individuals with the disease, others with mild symptoms not seeking or receiving medical help, and an X factor.

According to a scientific expert remaining anonymous, fearing possible reprisal for diverging from the official narrative, people are being “test(ed) for any strain of coronavirus (because) (there are) no reliable tests for a specific COVID-19 virus.”

Gauging the true number of infected persons is at least partly guesswork. Is the actual number higher or lower?

Millions of Americans and others elsewhere contract seasonal flu. Its symptoms are similar to most coronavirus strains. Are individuals with suspected COVID-19 symptoms being accurately diagnosed?

Severe cases of the disease with acute respiratory problems are a small percentage of the total number of infected individuals.

Because of America’s large population (about 330 million people), Dr. Wilson believes large numbers of Americans will be infected without “extensive distancing measures (wide fire lines)” to contain the blaze from spreading to much greater numbers of people.

So far, the true mortality rate from COVID-19 is unknown. Through Monday, about 189,000 US infections were reported, including 3,890 deaths for a mortality rate of about 2%.

If that’s the true rate, it means that 98% of individuals infected with COVID-19 will recover, what’s encouraging to know with a caveat.

The elderly, people with weak immune systems, and/or dealing with hypertension, heart disease, and other major health problems are vulnerable to be harmed most by COVID-19.

If 10% of the US population is infected with a 2% death rate, about 658,000 Americans could die before the ongoing blaze is extinguished.

According to Wilson, the true death rate may be much lower than what’s observed “because we’re not capturing all of those with mild or even asymptomatic illness.”

Widespread testing in Iceland with a population of about 365,000 people found up to half the numbers checked were asymptomatic, Wilson explained.

If the same situation applies to the US and elsewhere, it means the death rate is around 1% or lower.

It also means that the true number of infected individuals individuals in the US could be double or more what’s reported because of woefully inadequate testing.

The greater the number of infected individuals, the more greatly the disease can spread to others without firewalls in place to contain it.

The Trump regime and vast majority of congressional members are beholden to monied interests they serve exclusively at the expense of public health and welfare.

They were slow to react to COVID-19 outbreaks, an approach polar opposite China that imposed draconian lockdown measures in its Wuhan epicenter to contain the spread of the disease.

It worked. The South China Morning Post reported that controls in the city are easing, people beginning to go back to work.

China is slowly recovering as outbreaks keep rising in the US, Europe and elsewhere.

China’s Global Times reported the following:

Beijing did “a great job in containing the epidemic. We reversed the situation in two months.”

“The number of infections and deaths in China, a gigantic society with a population of over 1 billion, constitutes an impressive contrast with the figures outside the country.”

“China has become a force of support in the global pandemic fight after overcoming its initial predicament.”

“It has dispatched medical supplies and experts to other countries, a contribution to the international community that cannot be denied no matter how hard some forces find fault with China.”

“China is the first country to have started post-epidemic reconstruction” even though control and containment measures aren’t entirely over, and it’s unknown whether a second wave of outbreaks could erupt.

Many uncertainties lie ahead so the battle against COVID-19 in the country is unfinished.

Elsewhere things are worsening. In the US, states and cities are bearing the greatest burden because of inadequate federal help.

In hard-hit New York, Governor Cuomo slammed the corporate bailout bill for providing about $3.8 billion to the state, mostly for NYC — compared to an estimated $15 billion in lost revenue so far, according to state budget officials.

A revised update nearly doubled the bailout bill’s amount to the state, still leaving a large budget shortfall, virtually sure to increase without further federal aid.

What are the geopolitical implications of spreading COVID-19 outbreaks worldwide?

Over 30 House and Senate members wrote Pompeo and Mnuchin, urging sanctions relief for Iran to contain outbreaks of the virus that respects no borders, stressing:

It “poses (a) serious risk both to human health and life and to regional economic and political stability. These may in turn negatively impact the economic and security interests of the US and our allies.”

Instead of easing sanctions, the Trump regime piled on new ones. More war on Iraq may be planned against its Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs) that are connected to the country’s military.

They were earlier on the front lines of combatting US-supported ISIS in the country.

It’s a key reason why the Trump regime would like them eliminated — on the phony pretext of claiming they’re controlled by Iran.

Venezuela remains a prime US target for regime change. It’s latest stunt was falsely charging President Maduro and other Bolivarian officials with narco-terrorism — a US specialty in contrast to Venezuela’s anti-illicit drug efforts.

Offering a bounty “of up to $15 million dollars for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of” Maduro is one of countless examples of US depravity and decadence.

Pompeo slammed countries for accepting aid from Russia, China, and Cuba to combat COVID-19.

While the US wages sanctions war, economic war, financial war, and medical war on Iran, Venezuela, and other countries on its target list for regime change, Cuba sent around 600 doctors and other medical professionals to 14 nations to help them combat COVID-19, according to its public health ministry.

Cuba’s main exports are doctors, other medical professionals, teachers and good will — in contrast to mass slaughter, vast destruction, and human misery wherever the US shows up.

Russia is helping Iran, Venezuela, and Italy combat COVID-19.

China sent medical teams to these countries and others, including Iraq, Pakistan, France, Greece, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Spain, Belgium, Norway, Lithuania, and Ukraine to help contain virus outbreaks and treat infected individuals.

President Xi Jinping called medical aid to these and other countries a “Health Silk Road.”

Medical outreach by China, Russia, and Cuba contrast sharply with US aims for global dominance by crushing economies and immiserating the people of countries it doesn’t control.

It’s along with waging forever wars in multiple theaters, waging neoliberal and other forms of repression at home, and doing woefully too little for millions of ordinary Americans in their time of dire need — including virtually no medical help for COVID-19 infected people.

At a time when mutual cooperation among nations worldwide is vitally needed against a common public health threat, the US prioritizes its imperial agenda and deference to its privileged class exclusively over all else.

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Note to readers: please click the share buttons below. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.

Award-winning author Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)

His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Featured image is from Morning Star

The global effort to combat the coronavirus pandemic has been one of stutters and staggers.  There are go-it-alone instances of severity, and cases of blasé indifference.  State ministers and leaders have not escaped the chance to demonise and point accusing fingers.  Each crisis will garner its share of demagogues. 

In the United States, the sense of confusion and disunity on how best to response to COVID-19 is palpable.  On the domestic front, President Donald Trump has proven to be a constant shape changer on the subject, minimising risks with rhetorical abandon, finding culprits with some eagerness and suggesting off the cuff mass quarantines.  Policy is being made on the hop.

This approach won him one fan, with the director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, praising him for what most would regard as incoherent “leadership”.  It could well be that the WHO chief is angling for a lucrative appointment after the pandemic’s passing, with the blessing of the US government.  This would explain the crawling ingratiation, for “fighting this pandemic needs political commitment and commitment at the highest level possible.” 

The blue print for erratic response is also evident in the foreign policy of the Trump administration.  On one level, little has changed.  Sanctions remain in place against Iran, Syria, Cuba and Venezuela.   The business of cruelty must go on like a tired, murderous show.

A halt to that show has been demanded by the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Hilal Elver. “The continued imposition of crippling economic sanctions on Syria, Venezuela, Iran, Cuba and, to a lesser degree, Zimbabwe, to name the most prominent instances, severely undermines the ordinary citizens’ fundamental right to sufficient and adequate food.”  The UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet has also called for the lifting of sanctions “to avoid the collapse of any country’s medical system”.  Sanctions were vicious obstacles standing in the way of importing medical supplies.

Similar calls have also been issued in the United States itself, including a March 31 letter signed by 34 members of Congress addressed to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. 

“Rather than continue to invoke new sanctions in the Iranian people’s hour of need, we urge you to substantially suspend sanctions on Iran during this global public health emergency in a humanitarian gesture to the Iranian people to better enable them to fight the virus.”

Confusion on policy and how it should change to cope with COVID-19 also reigns at the US State Department, where Pompeo rules the roost.  He claims that the US has been a very good international citizen in several respects, offering a generous hand to countries in crisis. 

“We’ve worked to try and get assistance into North Korea.  We’ve made offers of assistance to Iran.  You’ll recall when we first began, we worked diligently in Venezuela to get humanitarian assistance to the Venezuelan people as well.”

Rarely has that phrase from Virgil’s Aeneid (II, 49) been more apt: “Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes.” The modern Greeks bearing gifts have assumed the form of representatives drawn from the US imperium, and one should best be wary of them.

This has certainly been the case for Iran, whose response to Washington was rather Virgilian in flavour.  Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in rejecting US advances for assistance, suggested that the Great Satan had a devious plan. “You might send people as doctors and therapists, maybe they would want to come here and see the effect of the poison they have produced in person.”  He also added at the time, for good measure, that he felt COVID-19, having been supposedly cultivated in US laboratories, was “specifically built for Iran using the genetic data of Iranians which they have obtained through different means.”

Much of this is positively batty, but the response is unsurprising given the addiction to sanctions Pompeo seems to suffer from.  Those have had a devastating effect on the country’s health system, enfeebling it.  With Iran being in the big league of coronavirus sufferers, offers of aid are bound to be viewed with suspicion, the actions of a deranged sadomasochist.

When confronted with the issue of being more generous on sanctions against Iran, Pompeo’s response has been formulaic and predictable.  As he stated on March 20, US sanctions do not cover medical and humanitarian items.  On Tuesday, when asked if the US position was etched in stone, Pompeo’s answer was trite. “We evaluate all of our policies constantly, so the answer is – would we ever rethink? – Of course.”

For Venezuela, the possibility of lifting US sanctions is being toyed with.  But any such measure comes with strings, more appropriately shackles, attached.  The Trump administration has the obstinate government of Nicolás Maduro in its sights.  On March 26, the US Department of Justice charged Maduro, whose presidential status Washington refuses to recognise, and 14 senior officials, with “narco-terrorism”.  The softening of sanctions has been parcelled up with an incentive to meddle in Venezuelan politics, using what Pompeo terms a “Democratic Transition Framework”.  This would involve Maduro stepping aside for a transitional government led by Juan Guaidó ahead of elections.  A “sequenced exit path” from US sanctions would be followed. 

Pompeo’s approach on assistance has been framed in a manner reminiscent of President Woodrow Wilson: shun the leader but celebrate the people; caged in their beating hearts is a free spirited American waiting to spring out.  It has been an approach steeped in difficulty and hypocrisy, and one the Trump administration continues to practice.  “We care more often about the people in those countries than their own leaders do,” reasons Pompeo. “That’s sad.  That’s a reflection of those regimes, too often.  It’s the reason, in fact, that we’re working to help these people raise up in their countries; so that they can get a better outcome for themselves.”  A questionable premise.  As the doomed Trojans found out in accepting the gift of a large wooden horse, Washington’s generosity is likely to be dangerous and appropriately feared.

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Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge.  He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research and Asia-Pacific Research. Email: [email protected]

On 12 March, British PM Boris Johnson informed the public that families would continue to “lose loved ones before their time” as the coronavirus outbreak worsens. He added:

“We’ve all got to be clear, this is the worst public health crisis for a generation.”

In a report, the Imperial College had warned of modelling that suggested over 500,000 would die from the virus in the UK. The lead author of the report, epidemiologist Neil Ferguson, has since revised the estimate downward to a maximum of 20,000 if current ‘lockdown’ measures work. Johnson seems to have based his statement on Ferguson’s original figures.

Before addressing the belief that a lockdown will help the UK, it might be useful to turn to an ongoing public health crisis that receives scant media and government attention – because context is everything and responses that are proportionate to crises are important.

The silent public health crisis

In a new 29-page open letter to Fiona Godlee, editor-in-chief of the British Medical Journal, environmentalist Dr Rosemary Mason spends 11 pages documenting the spiralling rates of disease that she says (supported by numerous research studies cited) are largely the result of exposure to health-damaging agrochemicals, not least the world’s most widely used weedkiller – glyphosate.

The amount of glyphosate-based herbicides sprayed by UK farmers on crops has gone from 226,762 kg in 1990 to 2,240,408 kg in 2016, a 10-fold increase. Mason discusses links between multiple pesticide residues (including glyphosate) in food and steady increases in the number of cancers both in the UK and worldwide as well as allergic diseases, chronic kidney disease, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, obesity and many other conditions.

Mason is at pains to stress that agrochemicals are a major contributory factor (or actual cause) for the spikes in these diseases and conditions. She says this is the real public health crisis affecting the UK (and the US). Each year, she argues, there are steady increases in the numbers of new cancers in the UK and increases in deaths from the same cancers, with no treatments making any difference to the numbers.

Of course, it would be unwise to lay all the blame at the door of the agrochemicals sector: we are subjected each day to a cocktail of toxic chemicals via household goods, food processing practices and food additives and environmental pollution. Yet there seems to be a serious lack of action to interfere with corporate practices and profits on the part of public bodies, so much so that a report by the Corporate Europe Observatory said in 2014 that the then outgoing European Commission had become a willing servant of a corporate agenda. 

In a 2017 report, Hilal Elver, UN Special rapporteur on the right to food, and UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and hazardous substances and wastes Baskut Tuncak were severely critical of the global corporations that manufacture pesticides, accusing them of the “systematic denial of harms”, “aggressive, unethical marketing tactics” and heavy lobbying of governments which has “obstructed reforms and paralysed global pesticide restrictions”.

The authors said that pesticides have catastrophic impacts on the environment, human health and society as a whole, including an estimated 200,000 deaths a year from acute poisoning.  They concluded that it is time to create a global process to transition toward safer and healthier food and agricultural production.

At the time, Elver said that, in order to tackle this issue, the power of the corporations must be addressed.

While there is currently much talk of the coronavirus placing immense strain on the NHS, Mason highlights that the health service is already creaking and that due to weakened immune systems brought about by the contaminated food we eat, any new virus could spell disaster for public health.

But do we see a ‘lockdown’ on the activities of the global agrochemical conglomerates? Not at all. As Mason has highlighted in her numerous reports, we see governments and public health bodies working hand in glove with the agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals manufacturers to ensure ‘business as usual’. So, it might seem strange to many that the UK government is seemingly going out of its way (by stripping people of their freedoms) under the guise of a public health crisis but is all too willing to oversee a massive, ongoing one caused by the chemical pollution of our bodies.

Mason’s emphasis on an ongoing public health crisis brought about by poisoned crops and food is but part of a wider story. And it must be stated that it is a ‘silent’ crisis because the mainstream media and various official reports in the UK have consistently ignored or downplayed the role of pesticides in fuelling this situation.

Systemic immiseration

Another part of the health crisis story involves ongoing austerity measures.

The current Conservative administration in the UK is carrying out policies that it says will protect the general population and older people in particular. This is in stark contrast to its record over the previous decade which demonstrates contempt for the most vulnerable in society.

In 2019, a leading UN poverty expert compared Conservative welfare policies to the creation of 19th-century workhouses and warned that unless austerity is ended, the UK’s poorest people face lives that are “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short”. Philip Alston, the UN rapporteur on extreme poverty, accused ministers of being in a state of denial about the impact of policies. He accused them of the “systematic immiseration of a significant part of the British population”.

In another 2019 report, it was claimed that more than 130,000 deaths in the UK since 2012 could have been prevented if improvements in public health policy had not stalled as a direct result of austerity cuts.

Over the past 10 years in the UK, there has been rising food poverty and increasing reliance on food banks, while the five richest families are now worth more than the poorest 20% and about a third of Britain’s population lives in poverty.

Almost 18 million cannot afford adequate housing conditions; 12 million are too poor to engage in common social activities; one in three cannot afford to heat their homes adequately in winter; and four million children and adults are not properly fed (Britain’s population is estimated at 63 to 64 million). Welfare cuts have pushed hundreds of thousands below the poverty line since 2012, including more than 300,000 children.

In the wake of a lockdown, we can only speculate about how a devastated economy might be exploited to further this ‘austerity’ agenda. With bailouts being promised to companies and many workers receiving public money to see them through the current crisis, this will need to be clawed back from somewhere. Will that be the excuse for defunding the NHS and handing it over to private healthcare companies with health insurance firms in tow? Are we to see a further deepening of the austerity agenda, let alone an extension of the surveillance state given the current lockdown measures which may not be fully rolled back?

The need for the current lockdown and the eradication of our freedoms has been questioned by some, not least Lord J. Sumption, former Supreme Court Justice. He has questioned the legitimacy of Boris Johnson’s press conference/statement to deprive people of their liberty and has said:

“There is a difference between law and official instructions. It is the difference between a democracy and a police state”.

Journalist Peter Hitchens says a newspaper headline for what Sumption says might be – ‘Former Supreme Court justice says Johnson measures lead towards police state’ or ‘TOP JUDGE WARNS OF POLICE STATE’.

But, as Hitchens implies, such headlines do not appear. Indeed, where is the questioning in the mainstream media or among politicians about any of this? To date, there have been a few isolated voices, with Hitchens himself being one.

In his recent articles, Hitchens has questioned the need for the stripping of the public’s rights and freedoms under the pretext of a perceived coronavirus pandemic. He has referred to esteemed scientists who question the need for and efficacy of ‘social distancing’ and keeping the public under virtual ‘house arrest’.

An open Letter from Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi, emeritus professor of medical microbiology at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, to Angela Merkel calls for an urgent reassessment of Germany’s lockdown response to Covid-19. Then there is Dr Ioannidis, a professor of medicine and professor of epidemiology and population health at Stanford University. He argues that we have made such decisions on the basis of unreliable data. These two scientists are not alone. On the OffGuardian website, two articles have appeared which present the views of 22 experts who question policies and/or the data that is being cited about the coronavirus.

Shift in balance of power

Professor Michel Chossudovsky has looked at who could ultimately benefit from current events and concludes that certain pharmaceutical companies could be (are already) major beneficiaries as they receive lavish funding to develop vaccines. He asks whether we can trust the main actors behind what could amount to a multibillion dollar global (compulsory) vaccination (surveillance) project.

The issue of increased government surveillance has also been prominent in various analyses of the ongoing situation, not least in pushing the world further towards cashless societies (under the pretext that cash passes on viruses) whereby our every transaction is digitally monitored and a person’s virtual money could be declared null and void if a government so decides. Many discussions have implicated the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in this – an entity that for some time has been promoting the roll-out of global vaccine programmes and a global ‘war on cash’.

For instance, financial journalist Norbert Haring notes that the Gates Foundation and US state-financial interests had an early pivotal role in pushing for the 2016 demonestisation policy with the aim of pushing India further towards a cashless society. However, the policy caused immense damage to the economy and the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions in India who rely on cash in their everyday activities.

But that does not matter to those who roll out such policies. What matters is securing control over global payments and the ability to monitor and block them. Control food you control people. Control digital payments (and remove cash), you can control and monitor everything a country and its citizens do and pay for.

India has now also implemented a lockdown on its population and tens of millions of migrant workers have been returning to their villages. If there is a risk of corona virus infection, masses of people congregating in close proximity then returning to the countryside does not bode well.

Indeed, the impact of lockdowns and social isolation could have more harm than the effects of the coronavirus itself in terms of hunger, depression, suicides and the overall deterioration of the health of older people who are having operations delayed and who are stuck indoors with little social interaction or physical movement.

If current events show us anything, it is that fear is a powerful weapon for securing hegemony. Any government can manipulate fear about certain things while conveniently ignoring real dangers that a population faces. In a recent article, author and researcher Robert J Burrowes says:

“… if we were seriously concerned about our world, the gravest and longest-standing health crisis on the planet is the one that starves to death 100,000 people each day. No panic about that, of course. And no action either.”

And, of course, each day we live with the very real danger of dying a horrific death because of the thousands of nuclear missiles that hang over our heads. But this is not up for discussion. The media and politicians say nothing. Fear perception can be deliberately managed, while Walter Lippmann’s concept of the ‘bewildered herd’ cowers on cue and demands the government to further strip its rights under the guise of safety.

Does the discussion thus far mean that those who question the mainstream narrative surrounding the coronavirus are in denial of potential dangers and deaths that have been attributed to the virus? Not at all. But perspective and proportionate responses are everything and healthy debate should still take place, especially when our fundamental freedoms are at stake.

Unfortunately, many of those who would ordinarily question power and authority have meekly fallen into line: those in the UK who would not usually accept anything at face value that Boris Johnson or his ministers say, are now all too easily willing to accept the data and the government narrative. This is perplexing as both the government and the mainstream media have serious trust deficits (putting it mildly) if we look at their false narratives in numerous areas, including chemical attacks in Syria, ‘Russian aggression’, baseless smear campaigns directed at Jeremy Corbyn and WMDs in Iraq.

What will emerge from current events is anyone’s guess. Some authors like economist and geopolitical analyst Peter Koenig have presented disturbing scenarios for a future authoritarian world order under the control of powerful state-corporate partners. Whatever the eventual outcome, financial institutions, pharmaceuticals companies and large corporations will capitalise on current events to extend their profits, control and influence.

Major corporations are already in line for massive bailouts despite them having kept workers’ wages low and lining the pockets of top executives and shareholders by spending zero-interest money on stock buy backs. And World Bank Group President David Malpass has stated that poorer countries will be ‘helped’ to get back on their feet – on the condition that further neoliberal reforms and the undermining of public services are implemented and become further embedded:

“Countries will need to implement structural reforms to help shorten the time to recovery and create confidence that the recovery can be strong.  For those countries that have excessive regulations, subsidies, licensing regimes, trade protection or litigiousness as obstacles, we will work with them to foster markets, choice and faster growth prospects during the recovery.”

In the face of economic crisis and stagnation at home, this seems like an ideal opportunity for Western capital to further open up and loot economies abroad. In effect, the coronavirus provides cover for the further entrenchment of dependency and dispossession. Global conglomerates will be able to hollow out the remnants of nation state sovereignty, while ordinary people’s rights and ability to organise and challenge the corporate hijack of economies and livelihoods will be undermined by the intensified, globalised system of surveillance that beckons.

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Colin Todhunter is a frequent contributor to Global Research and Asia-Pacific Research.

Featured image is from Pixabay

While there is much talk these days about “fake news,” omitting important news is perhaps as widespread and egregiously harmful to an informed public.  This is especially true in these days of coronavirus when data about the virus is confusing and overwhelms the public’s ability to digest it.  Sometimes it is helpful to gain a bit of a perspective by taking a different approach and looking at scientific research that has been for years ignored by the media but may help us see our current situation clearer.

The following report tries to remedy the way the mainstream media have for years ignored one of the oddest but more important news stories of the last sixty years.  Its implications are momentous, especially in the light of the exponential growth of spying, loss of privacy and freedom that have resulted from the extraordinary measures governments have taken to shut down societies. There are eyes everywhere these days. That we are being watched is beyond dispute; but by whom and why?  This is the real story that the mainstream media have failed to address.  Their failure to do so is truly laughable.

Extensive scientific research over fifty years has concluded that pigs that stink and grow larger as they age have small eyes and tend to stare at people. I have previously reported on these startling studies, but they have been met with a blind eye. Researchers across the world continue to replicate and confirm the findings of the original research done in 1953 in Kansas by Dr. Wilfred Jeffred Eftie. Yet the mainstream media, as is their wont, keep failing to report these extraordinary studies or slight them as worse than fake news.  Averting one’s gaze from their import won’t make them disappear.  Surveilling pigs may not be obvious, but the fact that they’re not makes them triply dangerous, especially in times of pandemics.

While seemingly insignificant on the face of it, these replicated studies in abnormal autology have led to new insights into our osmological understanding of the place of egoism in political life. The epistemology of egoism has long perplexed scientists, but Eftie’s brilliant counterintuitive insights have led to some major breakthroughs. However, the story of Eftie’s original discovery, ignored for years, deserves renewed attention.  But I will get to that in due course. It is best to proceed backwards.  Looking back will allow us to see if we have learned anything from the past and if something is gaining on us or we are just slowing down.

So let’s first take a look at a few of the significant follow-up studies that have added so much to our understanding of human animal behavior. It’s surely an understatement to say that in the world of science we stand on the shoulders of giants such as Eftie.  It allows us to see so far if we are willing.  One study that was replicated 789 times found that small eyes in humans tended to result in marked elevations of dopamine and diminished activity in the frontal cortex, the same results that were found in pigs. When translated into the political arena, researchers found that politicians with small eyes tend to stare at people as a power tactic, and such body language is correlated with a tendency for them to grow larger as they age – i.e. get fat.  Their small-eyed stares seem to intensify the power differential between them and those stared at, but this has not yet been conclusively proven and remains a correlation.

Unlike the pig studies from which this research emanated, no correlation was found to body odor.  However, one eminent New York City based researcher, Dr. Wilbur Shoat, made the startling discovery that smell is very subjective, and therefore in the human samples an intervening variable, such as the number and consistency of nose hairs, may be a factor.  Shoat did find a possible link that demands further study: In the politicians and celebrities that comprised his sample, there was a significant probability that the sulfuric whiff they gave off came from their mouths when they talked, unlike the small-eyed fat pigs that stank all over; that, at least, was what some researchers felt they smelled when working with pigs.  Ironically, pigs have an acute sense of smell far superior to that of humans, which may explain why non-scientists might think otherwise. Then again, it may not.

But Dr. Shoat, coming from a long line of swine scientists, had presciently hypothesized that finding, though common sense would have us expect the exact opposite. But then again, common sense often over-exaggerates its ability to grasp the nuances of science and understand its processes.  Perhaps this is because so much science reporting is written in jargon-filled prose and not clear, non-redundant language understandable to the average normal person.  Unlike today, reporters and doctors once wrote clearly, as the following quote from Dr. Eftie exemplifies.

In one of his follow-up studies, Dr. Eftie put it this way:

Without resorting to value judgments, it is the intent of this research project to substantiate an empirical relationship between the small size of the medium swine eye (as intensified through the pig smell/eyelid blink factor) on the one hand, and resulting intrafamily behavioral oddness on the other…. Animals in the control group progressed, without exception, from small to large size as they matured, thus creating the impression that they could both see more and take increasingly decisive action in response to visual stimuli.

An ingenious researcher, Dr. Edward Edwards, an amphigorologist known for his twin studies, took the small-eyed pig studies and applied their methodology to self-promotion among well-known people – i.e. celebrities. He reviewed thirty-five books they had written, including autobiographies and political memoirs, and concluded that those with the smallest eyes (based on optical scans of book jacket photos) tended to have the largest egos.  While his sample size was admittedly small, so were their eyes, and he thought intensity of gaze was more important than size.  He reported that in a eureka moment he realized that they all seemed to be looking intensely at him. What his subjects had in common – aside from money and having been mentioned in the gossip columns – was that they considered themselves to be “somebodies” (his term, based on their notorious egocentricity).  As a good researcher does, he operationalized the term “somebody” to mean “not nobody,” making sure to be precise.  What else, if anything, a “somebody” is he left hanging until his follow-up study when he plans to interview the thirty-five and ask them.  He expects they will gladly answer, and that those answers will buttress his empirical findings.

Sadly, the first pigs observed by Dr. Eftie are long deceased.  They stare no more.  Absurd as it may sound, we owe them a great debt.  Since a pig’s life is a brief prologue to bacon in a country devoted to devouring the evidence of its crimes, most researchers have had to study the children and grandchildren of Eftie’s pigs.  But their offspring have flourished – thank God for that. Pigs seem to reproduce rapidly and in great numbers, and researchers today have a wide assortment to choose from – across species.

One of the most intriguing aspects of all this ground-breaking research is how it sheds light on the need to replicate studies and repeat inconvenient truths that people wish to avoid. Repetition, repetition, repetition – that’s the key – a sine qua non of the scientific method and the best news fit to print, as Edward Bernays, Sigmund Freud’s nephew, instructed our finest opinion leaders.  However, those leaders tend to repeat statistics that so often confuse people rather than clarifying what’s really happening.  Our current headlines about coronavirus are a case in point where large numbers don’t help the public’s understanding. Better to simply say we are suffering from a plague.  That may be unsettling, but it’s simple and serious and shows they aren’t joking around.

Of course the news of Dr. Eftie’s important work can’t be repeated by the mainstream media since they have never reported it. Their focus on fake news reporting has diverted our attention from this censorship by omission. One might reasonably conclude they have no interest in autology or pig gazing, and that is a god-damned shame.  You can see I’m getting emotional, but the findings about pigs reported here need wide and ceaseless publicity, and we depend on our mainstream media to do that. Keep hammering the same point; that way truth will emerge. People need to hear things repeated before they sink in.

Not just the research into political pigs with small eyes and big egos, but what they say, and what we say about what they say, and what the media repeats about what they think about what they say.

We need the straight truth, and I think that if we compulsively repeat ourselves, we will be marching toward the light.  I am sure of that.  But it takes perseverance.  If we stick to our guns, remain humble, and keep repeating ourselves, this writer believes we will perhaps discover that even pigs with large eyes stare at people. That may be shocking, but it should wake people up.

After all, Dr. Eftie’s dazzling insights had humble beginnings, as is so often the case with great achievers. But he kept after it.  The roots of his genius lie in his childhood, as his first observational study makes clear.  He was a brilliant and precocious child.  When he was seven years old and just starting the second grade, his teacher, Mrs. Schmidt, had the original idea of having her students write about what they did on their summer vacation.  Wilfred’s scholarly career began with that essay.  Here it is:

Wilfred E       2A     My Sumer Vacation

I spent too to weeks all sumer at my Granpa Efties on a farm in Conzu Canz Canzus. i saw many pigs their. Sum of the pigs saw me too two. With there tiny eeis eyes. The Big pigs were very big.

While this childish writing is humorous, it became the inspiration for Dr. Eftie’s scientific breakthrough years later.  In 1973, the writer Tom Koch wrote a fascinating article describing his step-by-step maturation on his way to his Ph.D. It reads like a case study of Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development or Dr. Kubler-Ross’s five stages of grief – Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance (DABDA); I forget which.  Scholars from across the disciplines should study it since they tend to like stages.

But little news since has been devoted to the advances made by Doctors Shoat and Edwards in their follow-up studies.  After all, studies replicated so many times demand attention, especially considering their findings.  It is hoped that this update will convince the skeptical that there is more truth in a pig’s eye than seems to be the case.

News like this is often overlooked by the mainstream media that prefers what they call “real news,” sensational stories. But it behooves us to stand with Dr. Eftie and the importance of his insights into pigs, especially those with small eyes, since they are looking at us. The surveillance state has arrived.

“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”   George Orwell, Animal Farm

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This article was originally published on the author’s blog site, Behind the Curtain.

Distinguished author and sociologist Edward Curtin is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization. Visit the author’s website here.

The commander of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt has sent a four-page letter to his superiors appealing for the Navy to move nearly his entire crew into quarantine on the US Pacific island territory of Guam, where the vessel has docked since coronavirus infections were detected on board.

All 4,000 sailors are being tested for coronavirus—after several days of delay when only those showing symptoms were tested—and at least 100 positives were reportedly found. Sailors began reporting sick about two weeks after the aircraft carrier made a port call at Da Nang, Vietnam. At the time, there were about 100 cases of coronavirus reported in Vietnam, most of them in the Hanoi area, well north of Da Nang.

Captain Brett Crozier (image on the right) made an unusually emotional appeal to save the lives of his sailors, according to the text made public by the San Francisco Chronicle.

“Decisive action is required. Removing the majority of personnel from a deployed U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier and isolating them for two weeks may seem like an extraordinary measure,” he told the Navy command. “We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset—our sailors.”

The March 30 letter proposed that 90 percent of the ship’s crew be moved into isolation on Guam, with only a few hundred left on board to monitor the carrier’s nuclear power plant, safeguard its weapons systems and perform other core functions, while the giant aircraft carrier was given a thorough and professional cleaning.

Crozier pointed out that it was impossible to practice social distancing and isolation on board the carrier. “Due to a warship’s inherent limitations of space, we are not doing this. The spread of the disease is ongoing and accelerating,” he wrote. Among these limitations were shared sleeping quarters, meal areas and bathrooms, constant movement up and down ladders and through narrow passageways, and complex work operations that require close cooperation.

He also noted that about 20 percent of those now diagnosed with the virus had initially tested negative, only to become infected and show symptoms later.

Pentagon officials confirmed that Crozier’s letter was under review and that they agreed that sailors needed to leave the ship. Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly told the press,

“The problem is that Guam doesn’t have enough beds right now, and so we’re having to talk to the government there to see if we can get some hotel space or create some tentlike facilities there.”

Defense Secretary Mark Esper told CBS News Tuesday night that he had not yet read Crozier’s letter—which was dated Monday—but claimed “I don’t think we’re at that point” in terms of actually evacuating the ship.

The uniformed officer in overall charge, Admiral John C. Aquilino, commander of the US Pacific Fleet, said on a conference call with reporters that his top priority was the health of the sailors, but he added that no sailor had yet required hospitalization, and most were suffering only mild symptoms.

Major General Jeff Taliaferro, the vice director for operations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, declared, amazingly, that the Roosevelt could perform its missions even with a raging pandemic aboard. If asked to sail immediately because of a national security crisis, he told the press, the ship was “ready to sail.”

The crisis on the Roosevelt is only the most acute indication of the serious impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the operations of the American military machine. While the admirals and generals have a cavalier attitude to the lives of the rank-and-file—arguing that because they are mostly young and physically fit, they are in less danger—the virus thrives on the close quarters and constant interaction of military life on land and sea.

As of Friday, March 27, the Pentagon had tallied 613 coronavirus cases among US military personnel and stopped giving any details of the locations of outbreaks, on the grounds that this would give vital information to potential adversaries about weak spots.

“Numbers of people in isolation, quarantine, or possibly infected will not be released,” read a Department of Defense memo seen by CNN.

Several urgent orders were issued, including a halt to all overseas port calls by US Navy ships, confining the 28,000 US soldiers stationed in South Korea to their barracks or homes, and halting most troop movements worldwide for 60 days, except for planned rotation of soldiers out of Afghanistan.

The US role in NATO military exercises on the Russian border of the Baltic states and Poland was scaled back to include only the 6,000 troops already dispatched to Europe, leaving 19,000 soldiers at their bases in the US.

The Department of Defense also ordered many of the 25,000 who work at the Pentagon to work from home instead. The headquarters of the Northern Command in Colorado Springs, which controls troop deployments within the United States itself, was engaged in “distributed operations,” in which command units are strictly separated and key command personnel isolated. The same regimen was being observed in NORAD, which controls the airspace over the United States and Canada.

CNN reported Monday,

“Some of the most critical US senior military commanders and nuclear and special operations forces are now operating under extraordinary protection measures to ensure that in the event of a sudden security crisis, including any potential nuclear mission, there will be enough healthy troops and leaders to carry out orders as the coronavirus pandemic grows.”

The report cited specifically intercontinental ballistic missile crews, the crews of submarines carrying nuclear missiles, and the crews of B-52 bombers, the soldiers who operate the three components of the so-called nuclear triad.

Meanwhile, with none of the fanfare that accompanied the dispatch of the USNS Comfort to New York harbor, Trump on March 28 signed an order authorizing the Pentagon to activate as many as one million former service members, now enrolled in the ready reserves, for up to two years, to be called up as necessary in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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