Opponents of the $2,000 survival checks claim they’re poorly targeted. That’s nonsense. They would help the working class and poor far more than the rich.
Just Give Us the Damn Checks
Tag: USA
Donald Trump is gone. But the conditions that gave rise to his brand of noxious politics aren’t going away anytime soon.
Trumpism Will Endure
When America faces a leader with totalitarian impulses who thinks he can will his way into another term, it is also facing its greatest democratic crisis in decades. The passage of time always heals wounds, including political wounds. But what can be done to revive public trust in elections in the meantime is not just an open-ended question. Democracy’s fragile skin has been stretched as never before, when tens of millions of voters say that they don’t trust the results from the best-run election in years.
A Deepening Democracy Crisis: More than 70 Percent of Trump Voters Distrust the Best-run Election in Years | The Smirking Chimp
Deaths Rate has increased by 68%
The number of COVID-19 patients being treated in hospitals across the United States has reached 90,000 after nearly doubling in the past month, just as holiday gatherings are expected to propel the next wave of infections.
Coronavirus: Hospitalised COVID-19 patients hit record 90,000 in US ahead of expected surge
So much for “we stand alone” stance insisted by Morrison. Broadsides coming from America suggest otherwise. (ODT)
Senior United States Senator Marco Rubio has lashed the Chinese government for its “economic coercion” against Australia, saying it is important for a global alliance of democracies to speak up in support of Canberra. The intervention from the former Republican presidential candidate followed a sharp escalation in rhetoric from Beijing as it doubled down on its claim that the Morrison government is solely to blame for deteriorating relations between China and Australia.
Senior Republican senator Marco Rubio slams Beijing for ‘bullying’ Australia
WHEN JOE HOCKEY, former cigar-chomping Australian Treasurer in Tony Abbott’s government and Australian ambassador to the USA between January 2016 and January 2020, made it clear that he agreed with his golfing buddy Donald Trump that fraud “for sure” characterised Democratic Party voting and that “there’s plenty of good reason to have litigation, I mean it is a complete dog’s breakfast right across the country,” he did more than jump into the unaerated, putrid goldfish bowl. He inadvertently shone a light on the real nature of the relationship between the current Australian Government and the Trump White House, a relationship which exposed the Australian Government as a kind of ex-officio branch of the Trump Republican Party.
Morrison’s Trumpist dilemma: A credible revisionist narrative is impossible
US deaths from the coronavirus will reach 410,000 by the end of the year, more than double the current death toll, and deaths could soar to 3000 per day in December, the University of Washington’s health institute has forecast.
Coronavirus: US COVID-19 deaths projected to more than double to 410,000 by end of year
Microsoft is currently in talks with TikTok to buy out operations in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Considering Bill Gates and Microsoft’s massive failure with the Windows phone and in the battle with Android, they would be absolutely salivating at the prospect of owning a mobile app with over a hundred million young consumers. But will they protect private data? That prospect is highly doubtful. In early August, the Washington Post reported that Microsoft could use the data from TikTok for research and development in artificial intelligence. The only way forward is legislation that is both national and global in application and places democracy and the protection of privacy ahead of corporate interests and invasive security measures. Though with the governments of Trump, Scott Morrison and Xi Jinping, I don’t like our chances of that.
TikTok furore exposes data privacy hypocrisy in Australia and the U.S.
BBC Monitoring translates a report in the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot that alleges a high UAE official told its correspondent that “The aircraft are part of the deal.” That is, an arms deal was part of the agreement between the two countries, and that the US would sell Abu Dhabi F-35s was openly specified. So the United Arab Emirates made the treaty with Israel not to bring peace to the Middle East but to ensure that it is armed to the teeth. The UAE has a citizen population of only about a million (plus 8 million guest workers), so it is the Rhode Island of the Middle East. The country has enormous oil wealth, however, and has used it to begin asserting itself throughout the region, from Libya to Yemen. It joined Saudi Arabia in an air war on the Shiite Houthi rebels of Yemen, and Abu Dhabi clearly sees its sophisticated fighter jets as one key to regional dominance.
Was F-35 Stealth Jet Sale to Arab UAE at heart of deal with Israel and Trump? Did Netanyahu Lie?
Other comparisons relate to the World Bank’s definition of poverty as the pronounced deprivation of well-being:
- Homicides: Numerous sources report a higher homicide rate in the U.S. than in India.
- Suicides: Numerous sources report a higher suicide rate in India than in the U.S. (although WHO shows a higher male suicide rate in the U.S. than in India).
- Alcohol Abuse: All sources report a higher alcohol-related death rate in the U.S. than in India.
- Homelessness: Based on the best available data, the U.S. has a slightly higher rate of homelessness than India. The numbers may be understated for both countries.
via Comparing Poverty in India and America May Surprise You | The Smirking Chimp
Who is leading who by the nose? (ODT)
So, what is the average American citizen to do confronted by an avalanche of Congressional action benefitting Israel while the United States is going through its most trying time since the Great Depression? Israeli lobbying groups like AIPAC, Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) and Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) have large budgets, hundreds of staff and full and immediate access to Congressional offices. They even write the legislation that is then rubber stamped by the House and Senate, and although they are clearly agents of Israel, they are never required to register as such under Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
There is no defense treaty with Israel and the Jewish state is no ally, much less a “greatest ally.” It is, in fact, a major strategic liability, involving Americans in regional wars that need not be fought and demonstrating to all the world the risible reality of a military and economic superpower that is being led to perdition during a time of crisis by a ruthless and irresponsible client state.
Now more and more people can finally see what few of us have been repeating for years: The entire world has its neck squashed by the U.S. boot. The entire world “cannot breathe”! And the entire world has to fight for its right to be able to breathe!
via ‘The world cannot breathe!’ Squashed by the USA – a country built on genocide and slavery
Tens of millions of Americans are cashless, many desperate to feed their children. Meanwhile the richest Americans merrily float on a rapidly rising tide of money thanks mainly to Trump & Co.
This is our “Friends for Life” we go to war and die for (ODT)
Australia’s Defence Connect (20 May 2020) called for even greater loyalty to the US Global Alliance from Australia in this time of crisis over the spread of COVID-19:
“It is Australia’s indispensable relationship, the core of our national security and the key enabler, that has allowed Australia to freely engage and prosper within the post-Second World War order. However, in an era of mounting great power competition and disruption, the US-Australia relationship will become ever more important, explains retired Army officer Jason Thomas.”
Australia is being hurt commercially by its growing antagonism towards China, our best and most profitable trading partner. What is going on behind the scenes in the corridors of power in Canberra in the halls of the Defence and Foreign Affairs Departments to justify this wanton folly to protect US interests across the Indo-Pacific Basin?
Surely, the Trump Administration with the support of the Department of State and the Pentagon can fight their own battles with China. So, what is the real payoff for Australia in these difficult times? And if the war games in the South China Sea go astray, are Australians instantly at war with China through the chain of command in these joint patrols?
This move in the barley market have pushed other exporters up the ranks. France, Canada, even Argentina, seem like candidates for malt barley; the Black Sea appeals for feed barley. Australia, for its part, is considering the WTO for redress, something it did to India over claims of sugar subsidies. (That process grinds on in interminable slowness.) “China, we think in this case, has made errors of fact and law,” claims trade minister Simon Birmingham. But the hefty elephant in the room remains Canberra’s willingness to storm Beijing’s barricades on behalf of its chief security sponsor. This is coming across more as an act of misguided allegiance than valiant heroism.
The US attorney general seems determined to turn the DoJ into a fully fledged arm of the Trump re-election team
Right now the US can still print enough dollars to maintain Israel afloat, but we already know that while throwing cheap money at a problem is often very tempting, this does not constitute a sustainable strategy, especially when the actual military capabilities of both the US and Israelis are rapidly degrading. Right now, nobody knows how much longer the last openly racist regime on the planet will last, but it is exceedingly unlikely that the Zionist entity will be able to survive without the Empire to prop it up. In other words, sooner rather than later, the “Jewish state of Israel” will have no better chances of survival than, say, the “Independent State of Kosovo” or, for that matter, the “Independent Ukraine”: they are all the ugly metastases of the Empire which by themselves are simply not viable.
via What does the Empire’s agony mean for the “Jewish state of Israel”?, by The Saker – The Unz Review
Commercial Espionage it’s not China (ODT)
And where to go from here? Friedman opines that “the equation of U.S.-Israel relations needs to be flipped. Rather than Americans seeing themselves as helping Israel, they must realize how much Israel can do for the U.S. – for example, by putting groundbreaking Israeli innovations on the market in the U.S. first.” Sure, steal the technology, re-engineer it, and then quietly arrange sweetheart trade deals through one’s co-religionists to sell it back to the suckers in the United States.
via Israel To Annex the United States, by Philip Giraldi – The Unz Review
Both ministers said the Duque-led Colombian regime and Guaido were involved in the US supported plot — dubbed “Operation Gedeon.”
Maduro accused the Trump and Duque regimes of plotting to kill him. He indicated that two Americans were among the captured mercenaries, one reportedly a DEA agent.
Saying Venezuelan intelligence knew of the plot in advance, he accused elements involved of “playing Rambo.”
via Imperial USA Never Rests – Stephen Lendman
and
Trump denies US role in Venezuelan incursion – ABC
Be prepared for WAR (ODT)
via A General once Warned against Military-Industrial Complex: Today’s West Point Mafia is It
UNREPORTED FACT AMERICA WON”T HELP
Efforts by Russia for mutual cooperation among all nations to combat COVID-19, including the lifting of illegal US sanctions on targeted countries, failed because the Trump regime rejected the humanitarian gesture.
Moscow continues providing vital aid to Venezuela, Iran, and other countries on request. China and Cuba are doing the same thing.
The Trump regime and Congress are hellbent to replace all sovereign independent governments not controlled by the US with pro-Western puppet rule — even as the world community prioritizes the battle to contain and eliminate COVID-19.
MZ noted efforts by Cuba to help other countries combat the virus.
The UK cruise ship MS Braemar was allowed to dock 40 km from Havana “on March 18-19 with five confirmed COVID-19 cases on board and 52 passengers with symptoms of the illness,” MZ explained.
In response to Italy’s request for medical help, Cuban authorities sent dozens of doctors and other medical workers to the country.
They’re also working in Venezuela, Grenada, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as Suriname, Jamaica, and elsewhere.
On April 1, a Russian cargo plane arrived in New York City with a cargo of protective gear for medical workers on the front lines of treating COVID-19 patients — despite unrelenting US hostility toward Moscow.
Given its hostility toward all sovereign independent countries, it’s unlikely that the Trump regime will return the favor — or extend humanitarian outreach to any nations it wants transformed into vassal states.
MZ explained that Russia is actively aiding Iran combat COVID-19 outbreaks and transmission, over 50,000 Iranians affected.
Days earlier, the foreign ministers of both countries discussed the pressing issue.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry reported the following:
Moscow “inten(ds) to continue the comprehensive development of Russian-Iranian trade and economic ties and investment projects, including assistance in increasing the supply of agricultural products, which our good neighbor, which is, above all, under the pressure of illegal unilateral US sanctions, is in dire need,” adding:
“It has been noted that Russia has previously sent humanitarian aid to Iran.”
Lots more is coming from Moscow to the Islamic Republic and other countries in need — polar opposite how belligerent USA operates, a global menace to humanity even in a time of great need.
via Russian Foreign Ministry on Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and Iran – Stephen Lendman
United we stand divided we fall and in the English speaking world the division is clear on all global matters like Climate Change and the Coronavirus. China certainly is leading by action Trump is way behind vocalising. (ODT)
Bad press.
Reuters reports that the death toll in Iran from Covid-19 has risen to 1,284, and infections to 18,407. The country’s ministry of health spokesman, Kianush Jahanpur, is quoted as saying that another person dies there every 10 minutes now and every hour sees 50 people infected.
Researchers at Sharif University of Technology have modeled likely deaths and say Iran could be stricken with as many as 3.5 million dead.
Trump’s secretary of state Mike Pompeo just announced that the US would actually tighten its economic and financial blockade on Iran. Iranians are already saying that US Treasury Department restrictions on bank transfers have made it impossible for them to buy needed medicines, tests and medical supplies. The US does not prevent medicine from going to Iran, it just makes it impossible for Iranians to afford them or for the international banking system to handle the money exchanges necessary to buy them.
via Trump Spared Iran from Bombing, but his Sanctions Fed Pandemic in which 1 dies every 10 Minutes
There is NOTHING Straight about the US Media (ODT)
via The Plutocracy Strikes Back: CNN Compares Bernie Sanders to Coronavirus
Why does Trump tweet such blatant falsehoods?
Virtually every bit of “evidence” that Jeffrey cites is either false or inflated, to include the claim of use of chemical weapons and the responsibility for the refugees. As for who actually created the terrorists, that honor goes to the United States, which accomplished that when it invaded Iraq and destroyed its government before following up by undermining Syria. And, by the way, someone should point out to Jeffrey that Russia and Iran are in Syria as allies of its legitimate government.
Ambassador James Jeffrey maintains that “Russia needs to change its policies.” That is not correct. It is the United States that must change its policies by getting out of Syria and Iraq for starters while also stopping the deference to feckless “allies” Israel and Saudi Arabia that has produced a debilitating cold war against both Iran and Russia. Another good first step to make the U.S. a “normal, decent country” would be to get rid of the advice of people like James Jeffrey.
But Trump will tell you the Stock Market= America is booming (ODT)
via Filthy Rich: How America’s Unprecedented Inequality is Literally Killing Us
Free Press in GOP and Trump’s America (ODT)
America dragging Australia into fighting 2 wars one against Nature and the other Iran. The ADF hasn’t the capacity for both. Will the LNP require the rural unemployed to enlist? Morrison thanks God for an ally like Trump. (ODT)
That’s not America. After all, Lady Liberty used to welcome newcomers with a torch, not an AR-15. We don’t wall ourselves in while bombing others in distant parts of the world, right?
Militarism in the USA & The Decay of Democracy
Democracy shouldn’t be about celebrating overlords in uniform. A now-widely accepted belief is that America is more divided, more partisan than ever, approaching perhaps a new civil war, as echoed in the rhetoric of our current president. Small wonder that inflammatory rhetoric is thriving and the list of this country’s enemies lengthening when Americans themselves have so softly yet fervently embraced militarism.
via Killing Me Softly with Militarism: The Decay of Democracy in America
A gaunt, hesitant and apparently confused Julian Assange has told a London judge he is in an inequitable fight against a superpower which has been spying on his “interior life” and on confidential meetings with his legal team.
The WikiLeaks founder is trying to avoid extradition to the US to face 17 espionage charges and one computer hacking charge.
His legal team revealed on Monday they want to deal a knockout blow to the case against him, by establishing that the charges are a “political offence” for which extradition cannot be granted.
via Wikileaks’ Julian Assange says he’s in an unfair fight against a super power at extradition hearing
