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Dr. Michael Carome: Trump and GOP Governors’ Move to Prematurely Reopen U.S. Economy Will Trigger New Wave of Infections and Death; Aseem Mehta: Amid COVID-19 Pandemic, Lawsuit Seeks to Free At-Risk Immigrant Inmates from Massachusetts Prison; Alexandra Bradbury: In Post-Pandemic Economy, Labor Unions Will Face Both Dangers and Opportunities; Bob Nixon: This Week’s Under-reported News Summary.

Before millions were unemployed, before Covid-19 began its sweep, healthcare was already a crisis, and the arguments against overhauling it were already visibly tired and specious. Also on the show: Corporate media can write long, compelling, prize-winning articles about the ravages of climate disruption, but when it’s time to place blame and name names in a way that would be useful moving forward, they’d rather issue vague calls to action.

Now, too many in the Black & Brown communities lack the resources to effectively combat COVID-19, lacking access to paid sick leave or living without health coverage and are more likely to work in an industry that has been most affected by the pandemic, putting them in greater economic jeopardy or increasing their exposure to the virus. We are facing a global public health crisis, and as in all emergencies, the most marginalized are at increased risk. Communities of color are likely to suffer the brunt of the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus crisis and any legislative response must contain targeted relief.

NPR is the source for this show, which means it's been thoroughly vetted to rule out revolutionary content. It's funded by the Robert F. Schumann Foundation (NOT by activists). While welcome as far as it goes, it represents what might fairly be called the softer side of corporate hegemony. The Foundation's money most likely came from Schumann's late father, who was President and Chairman of General Motors Acceptance Corporation.

As we move through this crisis, we see the tragedy of the rich superpower with its privatized, dysfunctional health care system failing its people, while its impoverished neighbor — under constant attack from the superpower — reaches out to help the world. While Bernie Sanders paid a political price for uttering something positive about Cuba’s literacy program, the current pandemic has shown the whole world the heroic side of Cuba’s health care system.

This excerpt came from youtube.com/watch?v=ho9rZjlsyYY . For more complete documentation, go to discogs.com/Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Hannes-K%C3%A4stner-Die-Schukeorgel-Der-Thomaskirche-Zu-Leipzig-Hannes-K%C3%A4stner-Sp/release/5387792 .

This week we present a webinar conversation featuring Dimi Khalidi, founder and director of the legal advocacy group, Palestine Legal, Lara Friedman, President of the Foundation for Middle East peace, and journalist and author, Peter Beinart. They discuss the rampant on-going attempts by various Jewish organizations to silence criticism of Israel on US campuses, and in general squash Palestinian advocacy. The devastating result, up to now, has been a division among so-called progressives, perhaps leading to the tragic collapse of any chance of real debate in the presidential race.

In his 2012 book Spillover, Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic, the science writer David Quammen predicted another Corona Virus outbreak. At the end of March 2020 the editor of Emergence Magazine, Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee talked with Quammen who was sheltering in place in his Bozeman, Montana, home. Their conversation explored the ways in which viruses are embedded in the same systems of ecology and evolutionary biology that we humans are. As we disrupt wild ecosystems and shake these viruses free, and experience the consequences, COVID-19 offers an opportunity to reimagine our relationship with the natural world.

Today we talk about how the coronavirus crisis is impacting or failing to impact militarism and sanctions. Sarah Lazare is web editor at In These Times. Among Sarah's revelations: (1) U.S. COVID-19 administrators consider making war weapons "essential work"; (2) the Pentagon continues to pursue massive wars, deciding where to bomb, where to send soldiers, which countries are next in line; and (3) it spends vast quantities of money on warships, warplanes, high-tech weapons, consultants, etc., without any authorizations by Congress or any accountability to anyone, totally unaffected by COVID-19 shutdowns.