15 March 2020 — Michael Roberts Blog
On this day, 15 March 1845, Friedrich Engels published his masterpiece of social analysis, The Condition of the Working Class in England. This year is the 200th anniversary of Engels’ birth. Below is a short (rough) extract from my upcoming book on the contribution that Engels made to Marxian political economy.
15 March 2020 — LA Progressive
In 2015 I was wrongfully convicted of, and imprisoned for, violating the U.S. Espionage Act. Now, while there is no question that I stand in solidarity with WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange in a British court as he fights extradition, little did I know that my presence is also there as fodder to support extradition. If I am going to be used in such a way, there should at least be a modicum of truth to my inclusion. I found nothing reasonable about being persecuted and sentenced to prison under the Espionage Act.
15 March 2020 — True Publica
Some on the political opposition will enjoy watching the government of Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings struggle over the unfolding Covid-19 crisis. Others will profit from it. All the while, the threat of thousands losing their lives early beckons menacingly, when there was always a better plan in plain sight.
15 March 2020 — Peoples Assemblies
The people are ahead of the government in making serious moves to combat the spread of the coronavirus. It is clear the government were pushed by organisations already taking action to close down large events, a move we very much welcome. Where government refuses to act civil society institutions, trade unions, and ordinary citizens are taking matters into their own hands. We reject the ‘herd immunity’ theory that coronavirus can simply be left to rip through society until enough people develop immunity. Not only is there no proof this will happen with this virus, it is the most deadly and careless approach the government could take. The government should be acting on World Health Organisation guidance and learning from those countries it commends for swift and decisive action. Older and vulnerable people matter as much as everyone else. We insist the government alter course immediately and implement the following measures:
15 March 2020 — Michael Roberts Blog
I’m sure when this disaster is over, mainstream economics and the authorities will claim that it was an exogenous crisis nothing to do with any inherent flaws in the capitalist mode of production and the social structure of society. It was the virus that did it. This was the argument of the mainstream after the Great Recession of 2008-9 and it will be repeated in 2020.
13 March 2020 — Anti-Capital
Panic selling on Wall Street, and panic buying in supermarkets, those are the twin axes, in both meanings of the word, upon which the black hole of capitalism rests, rotates, wobbles, staggers, turns, turns, turns, and above all else, spins. Welcome to the culmination/collapse/triumph/apex/nadir of neo-liberalism, Friedmanism, the Reagan “revolution,” the cult of the Iron Lady, the Washington Consensus, globalization, nationalism, and all the other lies, frauds, schemes that make up the racket called laissez-faire. There’s an invisible hand, all right, and it belongs to the Boston Strangler.
13 March 2020 — Colin Todhunter
Colin Todhunter
13 March 2020 — Moon of Alabama
Excerpts from three current pieces about the novel coronavirus pandemic.
NPR: White House Knew Coronavirus Would Be A ‘Major Threat’ — But Response Fell Short
(more…)
13 March 2020 —
In order to achieve conscious responsibility on the part of the population, the authorities should offer coherence. They have not done so in the past and they do not do so now. In the third interview with Dr. Salmaso (specialist in Infectious and Tropical Diseases, and Public Health, he has worked for 30 years at the Dept. of Infectious Diseases of the Padua Teaching Hospital (Italy), and 5 years in Tanzania, controlling epidemics like Cholera, Thyphoid, Hemorrhagic Fevers, and intra-hospital Polio), he insists on letting the figures speak for themselves.
The official report on the 2017-18 seasonal flu concludes that 8.7 million people turned to the family doctor/pediatrician by phone for a “flu-like syndrome”. Less than 1/4 were visited by the doctor. No less than 18,000 people, mostly elderly, “died with influenza as a complication”. Of those 18,000, only 173 died in a resuscitation unit.
13 March 2020 — New Eastern Outlook
Frankly and in summary: recently The United States of America has crossed several lines, committing atrocities, in many parts of the world. In the past, no country could get away with this; such situations would inevitably lead to war.13 March 2020 — Strategic Culture Foundation
The over 1000 point plunge of the stock market on Feb 27th and broader ruptures of the financial system last week have been yet another wake up call for those who have been contented so far to “live in the moment” of fast money.
13 March 2020 — Angelof-truth.com
Doctors 4 Assange, who are the many doctors who sent a letter to the Home Secretary in Great Britain, tweeted a concerning statement today. According to them, Craig Murray’s reporting on the trial of Assange only escalated his mistreatment rather than helping to aid Assange.
13 March 2020 — The New Dark Age
There may be some duplication due to cross-posting and may be updated throughout the day, so please check back
UPDATE: The Dutch Government’s Show-Trial About MH17
https://www.greanvillepost.com/2020/03/13/update-the-dutch-governments-show-trial-about-mh17/
Judge Releases Manning After Suicide Attempt, Effectively Fines Her Supporters $256,000
https://www.greanvillepost.com/2020/03/13/judge-releases-manning-after-suicide-attempt-effectively-fines-her-supporters-256000/
13 March 2020 — Oriental Review
By Nafeez Ahmed
If you search on the web for the term ‘coronavirus bloodbath’, you’ll notice that the headlines are not about the mass deaths of vulnerable people that are inevitable on the sort of bungling business-as-usual trajectory adopted by the likes of President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
10 March 2020 — Workers.org
By Sara Flounders
12 March 2020 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal
COVID-19 is finally the monster at the door. Researchers are working night and day to characterize the outbreak but they are faced with three huge challenges.
First the continuing shortage or unavailability of test kits has vanquished all hope of containment. Moreover it is preventing accurate estimates of key parameters such as reproduction rate, size of infected population and number of benign infections. The result is a chaos of numbers.
13 March 2020 — WSWS
Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND) together with the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had monitored the encrypted government communications of almost half the countries on earth for decades.
12 March, 2020 — Architects Journal
The proceedings of the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower disaster are compelling and shocking in equal measure, says Emma Dent Coad
I was elected as the first Labour MP for Kensington, after three recounts, on 9 June 2017. Four days later I woke to the sound of helicopters, put on the radio, leapt out of bed, dressed in seconds, and ran down the road to a scene of unspeakable horror that changed all our lives forever.
13 March 2020 — True Publica
The UK government has published its negotiation objectives for the free trade agreement with the US. The document includes Digital Trade measures that could define British regulation of the internet and our online activities for years to come.
