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Archives for April 2020

Petroleum
Will the Pandemic Kill Big Oil and OPEC even before the Electric Car?

Will the Pandemic Kill Big Oil and OPEC even before the Electric Car?

Middle East Monitor

By Hani Habeeb | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – Giant oil tankers have changed into floating warehouses for oil following the sharp drop in the price per barrel. The dispute between Russia and Saudi Arabia has led to the biggest drop since 2002. It seems that US President Donald Trump’s call to Saudi’s […]

Culture
How the Plague Influenced Shakespeare

How the Plague Influenced Shakespeare

The Conversation

By Paul Yachnin | – Shakespeare lived his life in plague-time. He was born in April 1564, a few months before an outbreak of bubonic plague swept across England and killed a quarter of the people in his hometown. Death by plague was excruciating to suffer and ghastly to see. Ignorance about how disease spread […]

African-Americans
African-Americans, Victimized by U.S. Racism and Classism, are now preyed on by Coronavirus

African-Americans, Victimized by U.S. Racism and Classism, are now preyed on by Coronavirus

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The coronavirus appears to be striking African-Americans at far higher rates than white Americans, write Reis Thebault, Andrew Ba Tran and Vanessa Williams at WaPo. Given that African-Americans are on average younger than whites, they should have fewer cases. But other causes are overriding the youth advantage. The median age […]

Corruption
When you Work for Corporations you Don't Care about People: How Wisconsin GOP Forced in-person Voting in the Midst of a Pandemic to Suppress Urban Dem Vote

When you Work for Corporations you Don’t Care about People: How Wisconsin GOP Forced in-person Voting in the Midst of a Pandemic to Suppress Urban Dem Vote

Common Dreams

By Jessica Corbett, staff writer | – (Commondreams.org) – As footage of Wisconsin’s crowded polling stations flooded the internet Tuesday, public health officials and civil rights advocates condemned the state’s Supreme Court and Republican legislative leaders for allowing in-person voting during the coronavirus pandemic and thwarting Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ last-minute efforts to address voter […]

Epidemics
Coronavirus and Medicare for All:  Our Crisis comes from Gov't Putting Profit over Public Health

Coronavirus and Medicare for All: Our Crisis comes from Gov’t Putting Profit over Public Health

F. Douglas Stephenson

Gainesville, Florida (Special to Informed Comment) – Big business dominates our government and public health takes a back seat to the need for private profit. Many government leaders from both political parties share the same ‘profits over public health’ ideology, even though the Covid-19 pandemic clearly shows how our economic system has failed to serve […]

Epidemics
Palestinians are Helpless before Coronavirus, Hung out to Dry again by World Community

Palestinians are Helpless before Coronavirus, Hung out to Dry again by World Community

Ramona Wadi

( Middle East Monitor ) – As Gaza tries to impede the spread of coronavirus, humanitarian aid, albeit necessary, is yet another reminder of how the international community continues to deny Palestinians their political rights and, as a result, the opportunity for autonomous decision-making. In March, Qatar announced it will provide $150 million to help […]

Authoritarianism
While Rome Burns:  With 2020 Election in Doubt Trump Gets what he's always Wanted

While Rome Burns: With 2020 Election in Doubt Trump Gets what he’s always Wanted

Karen J. Greenberg

(Tomdispatch.com) – Last month, Donald Trump retweeted a doctored photo of himself playing the fiddle that was labeled “My next piece is called: nothing can stop what’s coming.” It was clearly an homage to the Emperor Nero who so infamously made music while Rome burned. To it, the president added this comment: “Who knows what […]

Donald Trump
After Trump picked Feud with Shiite Nat'l Guard, Iraqi PM-designate says 1/2 US Troops will Leave Iraq this year, the Rest in '21

After Trump picked Feud with Shiite Nat’l Guard, Iraqi PM-designate says 1/2 US Troops will Leave Iraq this year, the Rest in ’21

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The current nominee to be the next prime minister of Iraq, Adnan al-Zurfi, says that He has asked the US ambassador in Iraq for a timeline for a withdrawal of the some 5,000 US troops from his country. His statement came just a couple days before the US Halliburton oil […]

Donald Trump
With 53,000 Covid-19 Cases, Iran Can't get Needed Medical Supplies: Trump Admin must Ease Sanctions

With 53,000 Covid-19 Cases, Iran Can’t get Needed Medical Supplies: Trump Admin must Ease Sanctions

Human Rights Watch

(Washington DC) – Broad US-imposed economic sanctions are negatively affecting the Iranian government’s ability to adequately respond to the mounting health consequences of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The US should take immediate action to ease US sanctions and expand licensing of sanctions-exempt items to ensure Iran’s access to essential humanitarian resources during the pandemic. According […]

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