Aggregated News & Opinion
Today’s posts in bigger type.
Prior 2-3 days in smaller type.
Obama's ACA didn't fix this:
The US wastes $1.8 Trillion per year on health care spending compared to the average of 2017 per capita costs of comparable yet profit-controlled advanced countries. Let's end price gouging and adopt profit-control practices too. To the point, 2017 US out-of-control per capita health care spending was $5322 more per person than in France, the highest rated system based on patient outcomes.
Covid-19 India had one of the world's strictest lockdowns. Why are cases still rising? [Covid-19 has mutated and is more quickly spread]
Unable to expand testing or hospital capacity, Narendra Modi’s administration has turned to bluster and brute force
Rukmini S | The Guardian | 20.07.04
Reap what you sow Exclusive: water firms discharged raw sewage into England's rivers 200,000 times in 2019 [It's like Brits would rather have another plaque than clean-up their act.]
[Like the Chesapeake Bay gets from watershed tributaries,] Brits' untreated effluent flowed into waterways for more than 1.5m hours, data shows
Sandra Laville and Niamh McIntyre | The Guardian | 20.07.04
Environment 60% of fish species could be unable to survive in current areas by 2100 – study [WORK HARDER!]
Warming water temperatures lower water oxygen levels, putting embryos and pregnant fish at risk, researchers say
Valerie Yurk in Washington | The Guardian | 20.07.03
Cultivating algae empowers coastal communities while storing CO2 deep underwater.
BY EMMA BRYCE / Ensia | YES! Magazine | 20.07.03
We're not in control Fauci says US death toll 'going to be very disturbing' and fears 100,000 daily cases [1:50 video]
- If more Americans wore masks the pandemic would slow, experts say
- Infectious disease expert says US ‘going in the wrong direction’
- ‘I’m very concerned. I’m not satisfied with what’s going on’
Adam Gabbatt in New York | The Guardian | 20.07.01
Oh no! Health secretary: ‘Window is closing’ to stop coronavirus as US cases pass 2.5m [1:24 video; Where was this messaging 3½ months ago?]
Alex Azar points to recent spike in infections, particularly in the south and says people have to ‘act responsibly’ in hot zones
Bryan Armen Graham and agencies | The Guardian | 20.06.29
Governments and carmakers press on with hydrogen fuel cells to power cars, buses, trains and even aircraft
Jasper Jolly | The Guardian | 20.06.29
Risk reduction France's oldest nuclear reactor to finally shut down
Environmentalists have welcomed news that the 43-year-old Fessenheim reactor will close, nine years after it was first planned
Agence France-Presse | The Guardian | 20.06.29
Mumbai extends lockdown as India records 19,459 new cases; China’s military approves vaccine for use on its soldiers; Ireland reopens pubs, gyms and hairdressers; global deaths exceed 500,000
Jessica Murray (now), Simon Burnton and Helen Sullivan (earlier) | The Guardian | 20.06.29
Just Have a Think Channel | YouTube | 20.06.29
Want Inflammatory Bowel? We are what we eat, so we’re right not to trust what goes into American food
Forgoing our links with European suppliers makes no sense economically or health-wise
Will Hutton | The Guardian | 20.06.29
- US to be excluded from travel, along with Brazil and Russia, reports say
- Surge in US cases as Arizona joins Texas in halting reopening
- Why are California’s Covid-19 cases surging?
Sam Levin, Joan E Greve and Martin Belam | The Guardian | 20.06.27
David Smith’s sketch: Trump has been called the worst person to lead a country through a crisis. Friday’s briefing was a reminder Pence may be the second worst
David Smith in Washington | The Guardian | 20.06.27
Environment 'Either we change or we die': the radical farming project in the Amazon [Healing damage wrought by Bolsonaro’s ill-considered policies...]
A growing movement for sustainable agriculture in Brazil has taken on new urgency with the coronavirus pandemic
Dom Phillips in Carão | The Guardian | 20.06.27
Bad journalists are howled at
BOB SOMERBY in The DailyHowler | EVERY DAY
Defunding Public Schools As Covid-19 Takes Toll, DeVos Denounced for New 'Craven' Public School Privatization Scheme
"With our country dealing with a pandemic, an economic recession, and structural racism, she's spied an opening to exploit this crisis to resuscitate her failed agenda."
Jake Johnson, staff writer | Common Dreams | 20.07.03
chel.by.the.seas channel | YouTube | 20.07.01&02
One Icon Media channel | YouTube | 20.07.01&02
| Arts & Education Events: |
| Civic Events: |
| Unfit Trump celebrates Fourth of July by stoking division over pandemic and race [1:26 video; Trump’s beliefs are rarely facts.]
The US president has used an Independence Day address to repeat his vow to defeat the 'radical left' as protests continue to sweep the country. He said: 'We are now in the process of defeating the radical left, the Marxists, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters, and people who in many instances have absolutely no clue what they are doing.' Richard Luscombe | The Guardian | 20.07.06
 Donald Trump is shown on a screen as he speaks at Mount Rushmore. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Politics more important than vulnerable peoples’ lives Donald Trump rushed to reopen America – now Covid is closing in on him [We’re being led by the worst charlatan in America’s history] The president trumpets jobs figures built on thin ice but does nothing to protect those about to lose their health and homes Robert Reich | The Guardian | 20.07.06
Blue wave? Swing states may be up for grabs as Covid-19 hits Republican strongholds [Political blowback from wingnuts’ refusal to wear protective (to others) face-masks] As pandemic spreads, states long considered to be reliably Republican appear increasingly up for grabs Joan E Greve in Washington | The Guardian | 20.07.06
People are tired of Donald Trump and want a Progressive shift. [Not a neocon & neoliberal Hillary/Biden’s Democrat Party shift] The Rational National Channel | YouTube | 20.07.06
Seeking economic equity 11 Mayors Trying Universal Basic Income! [5:17 video; For the good of America, Biden should consider Andrew Yang for VP!] Secular Talk Channel | YouTube | 20.07.06
 Safety information signs are seen along the Atlanta Beltline pedestrian and bike trail in Atlanta, Georgia. Photograph: Erik S Lesser/EPA Health 'Trump is in a dreamland': what the US should do now on Covid-19 [Expert doctors and scientists should lead, not charlatans] With hospitals filling and PPE running low, it’s like April all over again. Here’s what Americans – and their leaders – must do ....The Guardian invited six of America’s top public health experts to address the crisis. How bad is the current threat? And were the White House committed to science and data, as opposed to disappearing tricks, what would it do right now to fend off the disaster?... Ed Pilkington and Oliver Milman in New York | The Guardian | 20.07.06
Environment Hundreds of elephants dead in mysterious mass die-off [Why should deaths of elephants bother anybody, sociopathic Trumps wonder...] Botswana’s government is yet to test the remains of the dead animals in what has been described as a ‘conservation disaster’ Phoebe Weston | The Guardian | 20.07.06
| Health THE EPA REJECTS THE SCIENCE, ENDANGERS PUBLIC HEALTH, AND IGNORES THE LAW! [Political charlatans are shortening all our lives!] By keeping an outdated fine particle air pollution standard, the EPA is enabling pollution that causes premature death.. Fine particle air pollution is deadly — Fine particles, known as PM2.5 because they measure 2.5 microns or less in diameter, can penetrate deeply into the lungs and bloodstream. EPA staff scientists have reaffirmed that daily and annual exposure to PM2.5 causes premature death and a variety of illnesses. Scientists have known this for decades, but since the national standard was last revised in 2012, new studies have strengthened these findings. They include an epidemiologic study with the largest ever number of subjects and several that include PM2.5 concentrations well below the current standard. EPA’s scientific staff estimates, based on multiple epidemiologic studies, that currently, an average of 13,500 to 51,300 people die prematurely each year from breathing fine particles. Although these numbers are uncertain, the likelihood of thousands of deaths per year would typically spur regulators to tighten existing standards. However, EPA’s current political leadership disagrees. H. CHRISTOPHER FREY | INVERSE | 20.07.06
 ‘It’s important to keep in mind how little we truly know about this vastly complicated disease.’ Photograph: Yara Nardi/Reuters Health Think a 'mild' case of Covid-19 doesn’t sound so bad? Think again [Trump trivializes those "who just get infected"] Otherwise healthy people who thought they recovered from coronavirus are reporting persistent and strange symptoms - including strokes Adrienne Matei | The Guardian | 20.07.06
 Teresa Bradley, 60, and her husband, Marvin Bradley, 61, both had Covid-19 earlier this year. Credit: Elaine Cromie for The New York Times Health The Fullest Look Yet at the Racial Inequity of Coronavirus [In a way blacks are still our slaves, because they help everyone in the very best Christian sense.] ....Racial disparities in who contracts the virus have played out in big cities like Milwaukee and New York, but also in smaller metropolitan areas like Grand Rapids, Mich., where the Bradleys live. Those inequities became painfully apparent when Ms. Bradley, who is Black, was wheeled through the emergency room. “Everybody in there was African-American,” she said. “Everybody was.” Early numbers had shown that Black and Latino people were being harmed by the virus at higher rates. But the new federal data — made available after The New York Times sued the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — reveals a clearer and more complete picture: Black and Latino people have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus in a widespread manner that spans the country, throughout hundreds of counties in urban, suburban and rural areas, and across all age groups.... By Richard A. Oppel Jr., Robert Gebeloff, K.K. Rebecca Lai, Will Wright and Mitch Smith | The New York Times | 20.07.06
 Indian health workers wearing personal protective equipment arrive in coronavirus ‘containment zones’ during heavy rains in Mumbai, India, 5 July 2020. Photograph: Divyakant Solanki/EPA India overtakes Russia with third-highest number of cases; Greece and Britain will fully resume flights on 15 July; Peru cases pass 300,000 Lucy Campbell (now); Damien Gayle and Helen Sullivan (earlier) | The Guardian | 20.07.06
Environment Trump wants to put a rightwing zealot in charge of public land. Here's why it matters [Is it for his Big-Game killing sons or for bribes? Or does he just want to kill all living things?] William Perry Pendley, Trump’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management, has ties to anti-environment and anti-government forces Cas Mudde | The Guardian | 20.07.06
 African elephants that need to be protected. Credit: BEVERLY JOUBERT Environment Before Your Next African Safari: An Urgent Need To Protect Wildlife Now [Sorry Trumps, another story that will confuse you.] Since COVID-19 reduced tourism to the continent, poaching is on the rise. Laurie Werner Contributor | Forbes | 20.07.06
|
Down in the polls and failing to control a raging pandemic, the president cast himself as waging battle against a “new far-left fascism” that imperils American values and seeks to erase history. By Annie Karni | The New York Times | 20.07.04
Beauty and rational politics are more than skin-deep Why Republicans are desperate to keep the white status quo as it disintegrates [Trump and the Republican Party should stop doing things that will stoke fear of retaliation when whites become the minority. That’s simple logic. It's also simple logic to make reparations in the form of better curriculum public schools in all colored neigborhoods, including both preschool and college.] By 2045, a majority of the population will be people of color, which will enable them to have a transformative political impact Zerlina Maxwell | The Guardian | 20.07.04
Childish Fascism Trump Is Turning America Into the ‘Shithole Country’ He Fears [Trump and his base seemingly want a shittier Amerika, but most citizens want “America The Beautiful”] The president’s mindless nationalism has come to this: Americans are not welcome in Europe or Mexico. Anne Applebaum Staff writer | The Atlantic | 20.07.04
Childish Fascism 'We don't live in a communist country!': battle over masks rages in Texas [The ignorant plurality of Trump's base are energized by hate media: Far-right fascists are taught to feel entitled to spread disease and carry guns, and to act-out like above-the-law sheriffs of the old west.] Coronavirus cases are rising, but despite the exhortations of health experts, many Texans just don’t want to wear a mask Larry Madowo in Dallas | The Guardian | 20.07.04
Childish Fascism The data is in: men are too fragile to wear Covid-19 masks. Grow up, guys [Cowboys wear colorful kerchiefs to keep from breathing so much dust—aren't they your heros?] New studies show that men are worried masks are not masculine. Are masks becoming the ‘condoms of the face’? Priya Elan | The Guardian | 20.07.04
Childish Fascism Troops sent to DC during George Floyd protests had bayonets, top general says [Trump is mentally sick to have made these decisions.] Some troops sent to Washington did not have riot response training, Associated Press finds Victoria Bekiempis in New York and agency | The Guardian | 20.07.04
| China's young coal-fired plants are more efficient but the fleet is large Ben Geman | AXIOS | 20.07.02
Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans will compound the suffering of Palestinians. International condemnation should be accompanied by consequences Editorial | The Guardian | 20.07.02
It may not be fascism, but in the US and UK rightwing nationalists are reviving classic myths and resentment George Monbiot | The Guardian | 20.07.02
Cross your fingers Czech Republic scraps face mask rule as Prague hosts outdoor party Masks no longer required indoors and 2,000 people dine on Charles Bridge to bid Covid-19 ‘farewell’ Robert Tait in Prague | The Guardian | 20.07.02
Out of Spain’s 15 coal-fired plants, seven ceased operations on June 30. Four more will soon follow, putting Spain on track to ultimately become coal-free. The country closed all its coal mines two and a half years ago as a result of the European Union banning their state aid. Michelle Lewis | Electrek | 20.07.02
Virtual Nations [An editorial promoting an anti-despot/fascist ideal] Instead of NATION-STATE-POLITICIANS essentially owning and controlling people (and their descendants ad infinitum) in "their" Nation State, wouldn't it be better if adults world-wide could contract with UN-certified professional agencies to perform nation-level fiduciary functions (certifications being updated at least annually).
— State, City and county governments would continue unchanged —
Virtual Nation agencies would manage escrows for selected Social Security, Medicare and charities. If this is possible and replaced Nations States, then wars and immigration crises could disappear since virtual nations' citizens are scattered world-wide, therefore military invasion or bombing won't work. The annual (re)choosing of virtual nation agency would desirably not be political, but be based upon prior service experience (if continuing with same provider) or by using UN assessed ratings of professional service performance. When you change agency the escrows for social security, medicare and charities are transferred to your new agency. Changing priorities for charities or "optional governance?" could be more frequent. Marc Cherbonnier | The Baltimore Chronicle | Ref.
| Economics China's stock market closes at highest level in five years [Will demand drive automation surprisingly more than jobs? Will China need UBI, too?] Caixin/Markit PMI continues to recover from February trough when coronavirus lockdown was most severe Larry Elliott | The Guardian | 20.07.04
Economics & Environment Invest in the green economy and we'll recover from the Covid-19 crisis We must target public spending on green, labour intensive projects which have far more bang for their bucks than tax cuts Joseph Stiglitz | The Guardian | 20.07.02
Police must be law-abiding 300+ Law Professors Agree: Congress Should 'Pass a Bill Tomorrow' to End Qualified Immunity for Police The Supreme Court has "drained the life" from a law meant to ensure people can seek redress when their constitutional rights are violated by the police, the professors said. Julia Conley, staff writer | Common Dreams | 20.07.03
Print of the Beeckestijn, now identified as a slave ship, forms part of Amsterdammers and Slavery exhibition Daniel Boffey in Brussels | The Guardian | 20.06.30
Activists claim young people are deliberately targeted and call for UN to investigate human rights record of Duterte regime Rebecca Ratcliffe in Bangkok | The Guardian | 20.06.30
New charges brought to circumvent Covid-19 prison release scheme, say human rights groups Kate Hodal | The Guardian | 20.06.30
|