Containing Covid—American Style
In the span of last weekend alone, more than 80,000 new cases of Covid-19 were reported across the United States. Worse, the disease claims the lives of about 1,000 Americans daily. Meanwhile in China, the country where it all began, the number of cases from the past week didn’t even …
The Catastrophe That Could Have Been Avoided: Examining China’s Response to the Covid-19 Outbreak (September 2019-January 2020)
Reprinted with permission from Citizen Press. In 2020, an outbreak occurred in the city of Wuhan in China’s central province of Hubei. This outbreak evolved into a worldwide epidemic that has severely impacted people’s health, their way of life, the global economy, and the political landscape. The name of the …
Congressional Candidates and Voters Sue to Stop Trump’s Sabotage of USPS
Truthout https://truthout.org/articles/congressional-candidates-and-voters-sue-to-stop-trumps-sabotage-of-usps/ A lawsuit that promises to be one of many was filed on Monday in U.S. District Court in New York to stop Donald Trump’s sabotage of the mail leading up to the presidential election. Mondaire Jones et al. v. U.S. Postal Service, Postmaster General, and Donald Trump was brought by Democratic …
The Solution To Racial Injustice Must Include Gun Violence Prevention
We are in the midst of a historic opportunity to begin the process of eradicating the systemic, institutionalized racism and injustice that has afflicted black people, and other marginalized communities, from well before the founding fathers declared their intention to form a “more perfect union.” Although their words recognized that …
Back to School: A Tipping Point in US Politics
The debate over opening America’s schools may be the tipping point at which the unending politicization of the Covid-19 pandemic will finally end. Every night, at dinner tables around the country, parents are discussing the one topic that unifies our country—what is best for children. The answer will not be driven by …
Federal Judge Sets Out to Bring Down Law Shielding Police From Legal Liability
Truthout https://truthout.org/articles/judge-and-elected-officials-challenge-key-law-shielding-police-from-liability/ As the Massachusetts legislature debates whether to water down its qualified immunity defense, a federal judge in Mississippi filed a stunning 72-page opinion blasting the doctrine. Qualified immunity has entered the national discourse with the massive uprisings in the wake of the public lynching of George Floyd. It allows police and …
Opinion: Why we Need – Yes, Still! — The ERA
A recent poll found that 80% of people think women in America already enjoy full legal equality, but the truth is women have never enjoyed legal equality because they were intentionally left out of the Fourteenth Amendment when it was adopted in 1868. The Fourteenth Amendment is what guarantees Americans …
What If There’s No COVID Vaccine?
NEW YORK – When it comes to ending the COVID-19 crisis, our experience beating back HIV/AIDS can teach us much. Above all, it was never clear during that earlier pandemic whether we could count on an eventual vaccine to be part of the solution. In our efforts to overcome today’s …
Black Lives Matter Chicago Sues to Prevent Occupation by Trump’s Paramilitaries
Truthout https://truthout.org/articles/black-lives-matter-chicago-sues-to-prevent-occupation-by-trumps-paramilitaries/ Taking a page from Hitler’s Brownshirts, Donald Trump is sending his secret paramilitary forces into U.S. cities to terrorize the population. Ostensibly designed to “restore order” in the wake of massive uprisings against white supremacy and police brutality, this move appears to have a more cynical purpose lurking …
A Key To Understanding The Race For A Covid-19 Vaccine
Now is the time to prepare yourself for an incoming onslaught of Covid-19 vaccine news. With eight candidates already in human trials and almost 180 more in the wings, publications and press briefings touting progress will soon arrive wave after wave. In the face of so great an outpouring of …
The Crash of Flight 3804: A Daughter’s Loss Becomes An Expose of “Pipeline Politics
Death has a way of awakening the consciousness of those confronting it. Today, veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are beginning to face the ultimate question: did we sacrifice American blood and treasure for oil? Leaders of two veterans’ groups, VoteVets and the more conservative Concerned Veterans for …
Bulletin Board: New Graphic Novel Shakes Up Nation’s Torpor, Rousing Readers to Act for a Better Democracy
A new nonfiction graphic novel, Unrig: How to Fix Our Broken Democracy by Daniel G. Newman with art by George O’Connor, was released today by First Second of Macmillan publishing. The book documents key problems in American democracy — from the corrosive influence of money in politics, to voter suppression, …
What Does Disappearing Immunity To Covid-19 Mean For A Vaccine?
The first results of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine trials were officially published Tuesday and the news was good—patients injected with the mRNA-based vaccine produced antibodies that fight the Covid-19 virus. Just how good is this good news? That depends on whether or not you accept the fundamental assumption underlying this generation of Covid-19 …
Cutting-Edge Inquiries from the Worlds of Science and Medicine
Lessons for COVID-19 from the Early Days of AIDS A pioneer in the fight against HIV reflects on the dangers of excess optimism about a coronavirus vaccine Thirty-six years ago, we were, like today, in the midst of a new and still somewhat mysterious global pandemic. In the U.S. alone, more …
Bulletin Board: Tali Farhadian Weinstein For Manhattan DA
Hi Naomi, Since we launched our campaign to build a more fair New York on Monday, so much has happened. I want to make sure you have the opportunity to follow along! If you have a moment, please: Follow the campaign on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Check out our campaign website. Watch our launch video …
Trump’s Harsh Sanctions Lead to Iran-China Partnership
Truthout https://truthout.org/articles/trumps-harsh-sanctions-lead-to-iran-china-partnership/ China and Iran have drafted a “sweeping economic and security partnership,” according to The New York Times. China will get a regular, heavily discounted supply of Iranian oil for the next 25 years, as well as an expanded role in Iranian banking, ports, railways, telecommunications and myriad other projects. Iran and …
Trump Is Trying to Hide US and Israeli War Crimes by Attacking the International Criminal Court
Trump Is Trying to Hide US and Israeli War Crimes by Attacking the International Criminal Court By Marjorie Cohn Truthout https://truthout.org/articles/trump-is-trying-to-hide-us-and-israeli-war-crimes-by-attacking-the-icc/ A war crimes complaint has been filed against Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump adviser Jared Kushner in the International Criminal Court (ICC). It is now up to the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor …
Protesters Attacked by Police Are Suing to Vindicate Their Constitutional Rights
Protesters Attacked by Police Are Suing to Vindicate Their Constitutional Rights By Marjorie Cohn Truthout https://truthout.org/articles/protesters-attacked-by-police-are-suing-to-vindicate-their-constitutional-rights/ Protesters demonstrating against white supremacy and police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s public lynching have been met with illegal repression by law enforcement. Police have utilized toxic chemical and sonic weapons, dangerous projectiles, intrusive surveillance, physical …
COVID Trillions: The HEROES Act, An Infrastructure Bill, And The Death of 25% Of US Small Businesses
Since the last of our recent trilogy of blog posts covering the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief add Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), much has occurred to reveal the Act’s bias toward big business and the wealthy and its vulnerability to fraud and abuse. This time has also exposed the …
The Fine Line Between the Criminals and the Cops: A Review of Mike Avery’s “The Cooperating Witness”
Susan Sorella is in her last year at Suffolk Law School in Boston. When she began clerking for criminal defense lawyer Bobby Coughlin, Susan had no idea she would become a central figure in a murder case that pitted the mob against corrupt FBI agents. Or that she would be …