Bulletin N° 892

 

 

Caligula - 1979
https://ww.0123movies.su/movie/caligula-1979-online-123movies/watching/?ep=1
produce by Producer Bob Guccione
(2:35:59)
"Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely"

(Warning: This film includes graphic scenes depicting the abject abuse of power and systematic dehumanization of women and men in the period shortly after the collapse of the Roman Republic, during the reign Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus, the third emperor of Rome,  from 37 to 41 A.D., and known as "Caligula" .)

+
Mission: Caligula - 2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2PXmIVZx_M
(39:08)
A film by Alexander Tuschinski, featuring interviews with the film producers Kelly Holland, Bonifacio Brass, and Alexander Tuschinski

 

 

 

 

 

Subject :  Looking for Contradictions: ‘The Nature of Man’ vs. The Nature of Capitalism.

  

 

April 3, 2020

Grenoble, France

 

 

Dear Colleagues and Friends of CEIMSA,

 

Society makes the individual, and not the opposite, this is the lesson found in the books of Ferdinand Céline (1894-1961), particularly in his 1936 classic, Death on Credit (1936, 2017). The devil is in the details; there is no overarching moral lesson in this book. Céline faithfully reflects the everyday life in Paris at the turn of the twentieth century and describes the traps laid by destiny for even the most industrious citizens. His character sketches exhibit the inexorable fate of people caught in a matrix of their own making, stuck in social relationships marked by greed, stupidity, lust, and malice. Céline demonstrates for us how there is no escape from our derived future as long as the structures that support us are constantly reproduced. Collectively, we reinforce the everyday patterns which constitute the leitmotif of our predetermined lives - before, during, and after our individual existence.

 

Ferdinand was born into a petit-bourgeois family living in a culture of violence, twenty-three years after the massacre of the Paris Commune and two decades  before the carnage of the First World War began. His mother was the proprietor of a novelties and haberdashery boutique; his father, more educated, was a factotum working for a local insurance company. They lived above the shop and were always struggling to make ends meet. The parents rarely had time to enjoy life and seemed to be constantly eaten by anxiety and a sense of social inferiority. Their son was shaped by these pervasive family feelings of fear. They all wore a thin veneer of protective servility covering an abundance of self-loathing, continually nurtured by humiliations - both real and imagined. In fact, these were the general character traits that governed the individualist ideology which was endemic to their entire social class. Their nose to the grindstone, they seldom looked up; and then, only to compare their status with that of their neighbors.

 

Céline describes his youth, following his high school graduation, this way:

 

We had only one thing in common in our ‘family’ in the Passage, and that was our terror of going hungry. We all had plenty of that. It was with me from my first breath… They passed it right on to me… We were all obsessed with it…

 

     As far as we were concerned, the soul was fear. In every room the walls sweated fear of going without… It made us swallow the wrong way, it made us bolt out meals and run around town like mad… we zigzagged like fleas all over Paris, from the Place Maubert to the Étoile, for fear of being auctioned off, for fear of the rent, of the gas man, the tax collector… We were always in such a hurry I never had time to wipe myself properly.

 

Since my dismissal from Berlope’s, I had in addition, all to myself, the fear of never getting anywhere in the world… I’ve known poor unemployed bastards, hundreds of them, here and all over the world, people who were only half a step from the poorhouse… They hadn’t managed right!

 

     To tell the truth, my main pleasure in life is being quicker than the boss when it comes to getting fired… I can see that kidney punch coming… I can smell it a mile off… I can tell when a job is folding… I’ve got some other little racket sprouting in my other pocket. Bosses are all stinkers, all they think about is giving you the gate… There’s only one kind of real low-down fear, the fear of being out on your arse, flat broke and no job… I’ve always had one on hand, some lousy meal ticket, it doesn’t matter what kind… I’ve had such cockeyed ones they had neither shape, size nor taste… It’s all one to me… It’s no skin off my arse. The sicker they make me, the less I worry…

 

     I hate all jobs. Why should I make distractions?... You won’t catch me singing any hymns of praise… I'd shit on the whole lot of them if I could… That’s what it is to work for hire…(pp.122-123)

 

After a short series of failures to keep a job, his family, at his uncle’s insistence, decided to send him to an inexpensive boarding school in England for eight months, to learn English and to regain his health, which had always been frail. Upon his sudden departure from England, which caused him to leave most of his belongings behind, the young Ferdinand, approaching twenty years of age, finds that his parents’ quality of life had markedly deteriorated. They were faced with growing financial debts and menaced with the prospect of falling into absolute poverty: his father faces the threat of losing his job, after 22 years, and being replaced by a younger employee, who had learned how to use the typewriter; his mother has grown weaker, too, her health is failing. Ferdinand must find employment, but his c.v. is not glorious, and he needs a new set of clothes before he embarks on job interviews in the fall, which is only a few weeks away. “So I had a little respite!” he writes.

 

 I couldn’t go calling on prospective bosses in a threadbare suit, patched, frayed, with the sleeves only halfway down my arm… It was out of the question! Especially in novelties and haberdashery, where they all dress up like fashion plates.

 

     My father was so preoccupied with his typing exercises and his dread of being fired from Coccinelle that even at supper he was deep in thought! He’d lost interest in me. He’d made up his mind about me once and for all… the idea was firmly anchored in his dome that I was villainy incarnate! A hopeless blockhead! And that was that! That I had no part in the worries, the anxieties of noble individuals… I wasn’t the kind that would carry my suffering around with me in my flesh like a knife! And keep turning it as long as I live? Far from it! And jerk the handle! And stick it in deeper! To heighten the pain!. .. And bellow and broadcast every new step forward in my suffering! Of course not! And turn into a fakir in the Passage! Side by side with them! Forever!... Sure, something miraculous, something people could worship! Something more and more perfect! That’s it! A thousand times more anxious, more harassed, more miserable! … The saint engendered by hard work and family thrift!... Sure, why not? More muddleheaded! Sure! A hundred times thriftier! Glory be! Something that had never been seen in the Passage or anywhere else! In the whole world!... Christ! The child marvel! The marvel of all France! The wonder of wonders! But nothing like that could be expected of me! I had a depraved nature… It was inexplicable! ... There wasn’t a speck of honour in me… I was rotten through and through! Repulsive, degenerate! I was unfeeling, I had no future.. I was as dry as a salt herring! I was a hard-hearted debauchee! A dung heap…full of sullen rancor… I was a disillusionment! I was grief itself. And I ate my lunch and supper there, not to mention my morning coffee… They did their duty! I was their cross on earth! I’d never have a conscience!... I was nothing but a bundle of debased instincts and a hollow that devoured my family’s sorry pittance and all their sacrifices. In a way I was a vampire… It was no use thinking about it…(pp.228-229)

 

 

 

The following  24 + items are articles and essays that inform us of the corruption that accompanies Imperial decline, with illegalities flaunted or thinly covered up by an obsequious media, blinded by the venal ambitions of their owners, who hire experts at public deception. We seek the true nature of this palpable decline in the social media, and find more often than not interesting debates and insights that nourish our understanding of the straights we have entered and the new limitations on our freedom today. The headlines in the alternative media, such as : “Teen dies of coronavirus, was turned away with no insurance”, or "Will New Yorkers Be the New Okies?" bring to our consciousness the carefully crafted ignorance produced by the corporate media.

 

Like making our own masks for protection, we no longer trust our government and certainly not the market place for reliable information. The only place we can turn is toward one another. Such as the recent email below, which was forwarded to me by old high school friends, whom I had known half a century ago:

 

The following is from an Asst. Prof. in infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University. Quite informative. Maybe the best information I’ve seen to date.

 

* The virus is not a living organism, but a protein molecule (DNA) covered by a protective layer of lipid (fat), which, when absorbed by the cells of the ocular, nasal or buccal mucosa, changes their genetic code. (mutation) and convert them into aggressor and multiplier cells.

 

* Since the virus is not a living organism but a protein molecule, it is not killed, but decays on its own. The disintegration time depends on the temperature, humidity and type of material where it lies.

 

* The virus is very fragile; the only thing that protects it is a thin outer layer of fat. That is why any soap or detergent is the best remedy, because the foam CUTS the FAT (that is why you have to rub so much: for 20 seconds or more, to make a lot of foam).

 

By dissolving the fat layer, the protein molecule disperses and breaks down on its own.

 

* HEAT melts fat; this is why it is so good to use water above 77 degrees Fahrenheit for washing hands, clothes and everything. In addition, hot water makes more foam and that makes it even more useful.

 

* Alcohol or any mixture with alcohol over 65% DISSOLVES ANY FAT, especially the external lipid layer of the virus.

 

* Any mix with 1 part bleach and 5 parts water directly dissolves the protein, breaks it down from the inside.

 

* Oxygenated water helps long after soap, alcohol and chlorine, because peroxide dissolves the virus protein, but you have to use it pure and it hurts your skin.

 

* NO BACTERICIDE OR ANTIBIOTIC SERVES. The virus is not a living organism like bacteria; antibodies cannot kill what is not alive.

 

* NEVER shake used or unused clothing, sheets or cloth. While it is glued to a porous surface, it is very inert and disintegrates only

between:

·         3 hours (fabric and porous),

·         4 hours (copper and wood)

·         24 hours (cardboard),

·         42 hours (metal) and

·         72 hours (plastic).

 

But if you shake it or use a feather duster, the virus molecules float in the air for up to 3 hours, and can lodge in your nose.

              

* The virus molecules remain very stable in external cold, or artificial as air conditioners in houses and cars.

 

They also need moisture to stay stable, and especially darkness. Therefore, dehumidified, dry, warm and bright environments will degrade it faster.

 

* UV LIGHT on any object that may contain it breaks down the virus protein. For example, to disinfect and reuse a mask is perfect. Be careful, it also breaks down collagen (which is protein) in the skin.

 

* The virus CANNOT go through healthy skin.

 

* Vinegar is NOT useful because it does not break down the protective layer of fat.

 

* NO SPIRITS, NOR VODKA, serve. The strongest vodka is 40% alcohol, and you need 65%.

 

* LISTERINE IF IT SERVES! It is 65% alcohol.

 

* The more confined the space, the more concentration of the virus there can be. The more open or naturally ventilated, the less.

 

* You have to wash your hands before and after touching mucosa, food, locks, knobs, switches, remote control, cell phone, watches, computers, desks, TV, etc. And when using the bathroom.

 

* You have to Moisturize dry hands from so much washing them, because the molecules can hide in the micro cracks. The thicker the moisturizer, the better.

 

* Also keep your NAILS SHORT so that the virus does not hide there.

 

-John Hopkins

 

Sharing information like this, person to person, and items from the critical social media such as the following two items: Coronavirus

 Dashboard” & “What Are Antibodies? - Definition, Function & Types reassures us that there are people with expertise who actually care and are not totally consumed by their narrow drives for "success", regardless of the cost to society.

 

What will happen to the criminal privileged element of society? Your guess is as good as mine.

 

Meanwhile, we must do what is necessary to survive . . . .

 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Francis Feeley

---

Professeur honoraire de l'Université Grenoble-Alpes
Ancien Directeur de Researches
Université de Paris-Nanterre
Director of The Center for the Advanced Study
of American Institutions and Social Movements
(CEIMSA-in-Exile)

The University of California-San Diego

http://www.ceimsa.org

 

 

a.

“It Shattered My Life”: Former Joe Biden Staffer Tara Reade Says He Sexually Assaulted Her in 1993

https://www.democracynow.org/images/story/41/51841/splash/SEG2-Tara-Biden.jpg

https://www.democracynow.org/2020/3/31/tara_reade_joe_biden_sexual_assault

with Amie Goodman and Juan Gonzales

(18:20)

+

Economic Update: #MeToo & Corona: System is Key

https://youtu.be/yx_UxL-Gfm0

with Richard Wolff

(29:30)

 

===========

 

b.

Washington in the Time of Domitian

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/54065.htm

by Fred Reed

+

Midnight on Planet Lockdown: Dylan strikes again

https://asiatimes.com/2020/03/midnight-on-planet-lockdown-dylan-strikes-again/

by Pepe Escobar

 

Like a shot ricocheting at Heaven’s Door, Bob Dylan has released a masterpiece dissecting JFK's assassination

+

“Murder Most Foul”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NbQkyvbw18

(16:56)

Song by Bob Dylan

+

News From Underground

From: Mark Crispin Miller
Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2020
Subject: [MCM] A brilliant take on Dylan's bold elegy for JFK

 

 

Murder most foul, as in the best it is; 

      But this most foul, strange and unnatural

Hamlet, I.v.27-28

 

 

From an old friend (since grad school in English):

 

Listened again to “Murder Most Foul,” realized that the line “Wolfman Jack speaking in tongues” is key. Of course, It references the popular radio d.j., but more importantly describes “Jack” Kennedy himself speaking from beyond the grave through Dylan, who invokes song titles as the “tongue”— the national idiom— to tell his elegy, which transfigures into new meaning all the titles, many of whom are themselves idiomatic American phrases: “lonely at the top,” “lonely are the brave,” “the good die young.” But when Dylan sings these, he transforms them from their ordinary pop identities into evocations of JFK’s tragic grandeur—as if the phrases of popular culture have been always waiting to be used as messengers, ready to circulate in and through the voice of JFK/Dylan. 

 

In the Bible, the disciples speak in tongues unconsciously, and thereby spread the word of Jesus all over the world.

 

So Dylan is “speaking in tongues”—that is, as a medium,  the instrument of a higher power, demanding.... what? Justice (?), vengeance (?), recognition (?). The answer, of course, is all three; and this is confirmed when we unpack the title's allusion: the Shakespearean “tongue” Dylan adopts—for “murder most foul” is uttered the by ghost of Hamlet’s father, as he urges his son to avenge him for this “most foul, strange & unnatural” crime. Here is the primal seed of Dylan’s dirge, as he takes upon himself the task his father demands: vengeance, justice, recognition.

 

And the composite ghost of Hamlet's father/JFK—both bathed in blood—tells his son, Hamlet/Dylan, that he knows of unspeakable crimes. . . if only he was permitted to divulge them. 

 

This "if only" is precisely the source of the permanently elusive guesswork, speculation, possibilities, unknowability, that has been the vortex around the events of Nov. 22, 1963.

+

Trump Becomes Mad King In Modern Epic of Gilgamesh

https://youtu.be/oSQ4IuOjibM

with Tom Hartmann

(7:34)

+

Our 'War President' Goes To Battle

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/54088.htm

by Eric Margolis

"He who seeks to defend everything, defends nothing."
King Frederick the Great of Prussia.

+

Trump says Iran planning 'sneak attack' on US troops

https://youtu.be/BcowK9jWAeo

with George Galloway

(6:18)

+

News From Underground

From: Mark Crispin Miller
Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2020
Subject: [MCM] Israel attacks Palestinians struggling with COVID-19

 

.... just as the US is doing to Venezuela and Iran.

 

MCM

 

Israel attacks Palestinians as they fight COVID-19

https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israel-attacks-palestinians-they-fight-covid-19

Ali Abunimah 31 March 2020

Women pour dry beans into bags

 Ashraf AmraAPA images

Workers for the United Nations agency UNRWA in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, prepare food rations to be delivered to the homes of Palestinian refugee families on 31 March, in an effort to avoid people congregating at distribution centers, as a measure to prevent an outbreak of COVID-19 in the densely populated territory. 

Israeli occupation forces continue to attack Palestinian communities as they struggle to hold back the threat from the coronavirus pandemic.

Occupation forces wearing hazmat suits and carrying assault rifles raided a home near Ramallah early Tuesday:

===========

 

c.

Developing countries face economic collapse in COVID-19 fight: UN

https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/developing-countries-face-economic-collapse-covid-19-fight-200330003332689.html

by Radmilla Suleymanova

+

Panic in India as laborers rush to leave cities"

https://youtu.be/6rkBaxCP7xQ

with Alex Mihailovich and Rick Sanchez

(4:23)

+

Hoards Of Hungry Italians Storm Groceries Stores!

https://youtu.be/fLhC7Jy4mXA

with Jimmu Dore

(7:58)

 

===========

 

d.

 “Total System Failure”: Congress Pushes $2 Trillion Pandemic Bill. Will Dems Allow “Corporate Coup”?

https://www.democracynow.org/2020/3/27/coronavirus_relief_bill_matt_stoller

with Matt Stoller

(11:05)

+

Bill Gates: Returning To Normal Life In April Is Not Realistic

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/03/27/bill_gates_returning_to_normal_life_in_april_is_not_realistic.html?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=mixi&utm_campaign=realclearpolitics (10:52)

 

Microsoft's Bill Gates, co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, weighs in on the coronavirus pandemic, saying the number of US cases has not yet peaked and the country won't likely be able to return to normal life by April

+

Ezekiel Emanuel: U.S. Will Have 100 Million Cases Of COVID-19 In Four Weeks, Doubling Every Four Days

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/03/27/ezekiel_emanuel_us_will_have_100_million_cases_of_covid-19_in_four_weeks.html?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=mixi&utm_campaign=realclearpolitics

(3:24)

 

===========

 

e.

Comparing the Influenza Epidemic of 1918 to the Coronavirus

https://www.newyorker.com/video/watch/comparing-the-spanish-flu-to-the-coronavirus

by John Barry

+

News From Underground

 

From: Mark Crispin Miller
Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2020
Subject: [MCM] Did a (Rockefeller) vaccine experiment on US soldiers cause the "Spanish flu"? (MUST-READ)

 

That "Spanish flu"—which was neither flu nor Spanish—killed 50-100 million

people all around the world; so, though that pandemic happened over a 

century ago, we are obliged to know what really happened, then as now.

 

MCM

 

 

Did a Vaccine Experiment on U.S. Soldiers Cause the “Spanish Flu”?

The 1918-19 bacterial vaccine experiment may have killed 50-100 million people

Emergency_hospital_during_Spanish_flu_epidemic,_Camp_Funston,_Kansas_-_NCP_1603

https://vaccineimpact.com/2018/did-military-experimental-vaccine-in-1918-kill-50-100-million-people-blamed-as-spanish-flu/

by Kevin Barry, President First Freedoms, Inc.

 

The “Spanish Flu” killed an estimated 50-100 million people during a pandemic 1918-19. What if the story  we have been told about this pandemic isn’t true?

What if, instead, the killer infection was neither the flu nor Spanish in origin?

Newly analyzed documents reveal that the “Spanish Flu” may have been a military vaccine experiment gone awry.

In looking back on the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, we need to delve deeper to solve this mystery.

Summary

During the pandemic of 1918-19, the so-called “Spanish Flu” killed 50-100 million people, including many soldiers.

Many people do not realize that disease killed far more soldiers on all sides than machine guns or mustard gas or anything else typically associated with WWI.

+

Exclusive: The Military Knew Years Ago That a Coronavirus Was Coming

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/55003.htm

by Ken Klippenstein

 

"The Pentagon warned the White House about a shortage of ventilators, face masks and hospital beds in 2017—but the Trump administration did nothing."

 +

 

From: Cat McGuire [mailto:cat@catmcguire.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2020
Subject: Cynthia McKinney discusses coronavirus

 

Cynthia McKinney was guest speaker at a monthly conference call I belong to. Read my notes.  Lots of interesting nuggets :

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17Kf9EnXTXsroNEb_OIL3LQNlCtJwfbS2/view?usp=sharing

 

C M

 

===========

 

f.

Snowden warns new surveillance measures will outlast the coronavirus

https://thenextweb.com/neural/2020/03/25/snowden-warns-the-surveillance-states-were-creating-now-will-outlast-the-coronavirus/

by Thomas Macaulay

+

News From Underground

 

From: newsfromunderground@googlegroups.com [mailto:newsfromunderground@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Mark Crispin Miller
Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2020 8:16 PM
To: newsfromunderground
Subject: [MCM] No, no, no, no, Building 7 was NOT destroyed by fire: U Alaska's final report definitively wipes out the official story

 

As we're all reeling here in lockdown, variously shattered by the COVID-19 story,

and its awesome exploitation by the Powers That Be, let's recall the last time an

unprecedented horror was used to keep us all in line—and note this latest proof

that it was bogus. 

 

9/11 was a killer, and so is this new coronavirus. The urgent questions then are

still germane: Who was behind it, and to what ends?

 

MCM  

 

https://www.ae911truth.org/images/articles/2020/Mar_2020/Hulsey-Report-Final-1024-v4.jpg

https://www.ae911truth.org/news/656-university-of-alaska-fairbanks-issues-final-report-on-world-trade-center-building-7 

 

WTC 7 Not Destroyed by Fire, Concludes Final University of Alaska Fairbanks Report

 

The destruction of the 47-story World Trade Center Building 7 in New York City late in the afternoon of September 11, 2001, was not a result of fires, according to the much-anticipated final report issued today by researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

 

The UAF team’s findings, which were the result of a four-year computer modeling study of the tower’s collapse, contradict those of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which concluded in a 2008 report that WTC 7 was the first tall building ever to collapse primarily due to fire.

“Our study found that the fires in WTC 7 could not have caused the observed collapse,” said Professor Leroy Hulsey, the study’s principal investigator. “The only way it could have fallen in the observed manner is by the near-simultaneous failure of every column.”

+

10 MORE Experts Criticising the Coronavirus Panic

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/55002.htm

by Off Guardian
"Following on from our previous list, here are ten more expert voices, drowned out or disregarded by the mainstream narrative, offering their take on the coronavirus outbreak."

 

===========

 

g.

Protest in Brazil

(March 28, 2020)

Projection sur un immeuble de San Pablo au Brésil / Photo d'Amanda Perobelli pour Reuters

+

 

Historians for Peace and Democracy (H-PAD)

https://www.historiansforpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/HPAD-logo-b-w-300x187.jpg

From: Jim O'Brien via H-PAD
Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2020
Subject: [H-PAD] H-PAD Notes 3/26/20: Links to recent articles of interest

 

 

Links to Recent Articles of Interest

 

"Judgment Day for the National Security State: The Coronavirus and the Real Threats to American Safety and Freedom"

By Andrew Bacevich, TomDispatch.com, posted March 26

The author is a professor emeritus of history and international relations at Boston University and president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.

 

"The World's Major Military and Economic Powers Find Happiness Elusive"

By Lawrence Wittner, Common Dreams, posted March 25

A short, modest piece comparing military and economic rankings on the one hand with polls of self-reported happiness on the other. The author is a professor emeritus of history at SUNY Albany.

 

"What Our Contagion Fables Are Really About"

By Jill Lepore, The New Yorker, posted March 23

On the literature of pestilence, from Daniel Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year to Albert Camus's The Plague and Jose Saramago's Blindness.The author teaches history at Harvard University.

 

"The Cultural Constants of Contagion"

By Ed Simon, History News Network, posted March 22

Draws parallels between human responses to plagues in world history starting with "Justinian's Plague" in the sixth century. The author is a contributing editor of the History News Network.

 

"Thucydides and the Plague of Athens - What It Can Teach Us Now"

By Chris Mackie, The Conversation, posted March 19

The author teaches Classics at La Trobe University.

 

"A 'Once-in-a-Century Pathogen' : The 1918 Pandemic and This One"

By Mark Honigsbaum, NYR [New York Review of Books] Daily, posted March 17

The author is a medical historian and author of Pandemic Century (Norton, 2019).

 

"When 'Fake News' Was Banned: An America Trump Might Have Loved"

By Adam Hochschild, TomDispatch.com, posted March 17

On censorship in the US during and immediately after World War I under President Woodrow Wilson and Postmaster General Albert Burleson. The author's most recent book is a biography of Rose Pastor Stokes, one of the dissenters who was imprisoned under the 1917 Espionage Act.

 

"12 Ways the US Invasion of Iraq Lives on in Infamy"

By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies, CommonDreams.org, posted March 17

Medea Benjamin is a co-founder of Global Exchange and CODEPINK; Nicolas Davies is author of Blook on Our Hands: The American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq.

 

"As Trump Stumbles in War on Coronavirus at Home, He Bombs Shiites in Shiite-Ruled Iraq"

By Juan Cole, Informed Comment blog, posted March 13

The author teaches Middle Eastern history at the University of Michigan.

 

"I Helped Fact-Check the 1619 Project. The Times Ignored Me"

By Leslie M. Harris, Politico, posted March 6

A nuanced essay on the 1619 Project controversy, arguing that the Times series made "avoidable mistakes" but that "the attacks from its critics are much more dangerous. The author teaches history at Northwestern University and has written two books on American slavery.

 

Thanks to Rusti Eisenberg and an anonymous reader for suggesting articles included in the above list. Suggestions can be sent to jimobrien48@gmail.com.

+

From : Rusti Eisenberg and Prasannan Parthasarathi, Legislative Coordinators at H-PAD :

 

Emergency Message: End Sanctions on Iran Now …

As countries around the world cope with the peril of COVID- 19, the 80 million people of Iran face additional dangers created by the American sanctions on their country. In the same week that China and the United Kingdom called for an easing of sanctions, on March 18 the Trump Administration increased them.

Researchers are predicting that if sanctions are not lifted, at least 3.5 million Iranian lives will be lost.

 

According to October 2019 Human Rights Watch report, the U.S. “maximum pressure” campaign had “drastically constrained the ability of Iranian entities to finance humanitarian imports, including vital medicines and medical equipment.”At this crucial moment, the perpetuation of the sanctions is making a disastrous situation even worse.

 

What Can We Do?

There is now a letter circulating among members of Congress calling upon Secretary Pompeo and Secretary Mnuchin to substantially suspend the sanctions on Iran so that the country is better able to combat the virus. Call your Representative and Senators at the Congressional Switchboard ( 1-202-224-3121) or at their district/regional offices. If all else fails, send an email. TIME SENSITIVE

 

For full text: https://www.niacouncil.org/news/niac-and-25-organizations-urge-trump-to-ease-iran-sanctions-to-combat-coronavirus/

 

AND

 

Contact the US Treasury Department and ask that the sanctions on Iran be lifted.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScrIuutm4cIiMiqqHJOxCWenng5GuPIKEp2p9-9RT8Tw62UaQ/viewfor

 

For more information, join this Iran Webinar offered by Peace Action. Thursday March 24 between 7-8 PM/

https://masspeaceaction.org/event/coronavirus-time-to-end-us-sanctions-on-iran-webinar/

 

 

Articles on Iran situation

https://www.niacouncil.org/news/coronavirus-update-in-iran-3-25/ ***see especially for overview:

 

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2020/03/23/collective-punishment-has-always-been-the-stated-goal-of-iran-sanctions-hawks/

 

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2020/03/19/trump-administration-piles-on-sanctions-as-the-rest-of-the-world-helps-iran-confront-covid-19/

 

https://mondoweiss.net/2020/03/aoc-sanders-bernie-sanders-and-other-lawmakers-send-letter-to-trump-administration-asking-for-iran-sanctions-relief-amid-covid-19-crisis/

 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScrIuutm4cIiMiqqHJOxCWenng5GuPIKEp2p9-9RT8Tw62UaQ/viewform

 

===========

 

h.

From: Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK [mailto:info@codepink.org]
Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2020
Subject: Let’s talk to Trita Parsi

 

CODEPINK.ORG

https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/codepink/mailings/4145/attachments/original/Add_a_heading_%284%29.png?1585230889

Two important things: 1. Join the webinar discussion today at 2pm ET with Trita Parsi 2. Tell your Reps in Congress to join the AOC, Bernie Sanders letter calling for an immediate lifting of Iran sanctions to help ordinary Iranians fight the COVID19 pandemic.

https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/codepink/mailings/4123/attachments/original/CODEPINK_addname_button.png?1582821991

Right before coronavirus got bad in the U.S., we were outside the Treasury Department in D.C. protesting the detrimental effects U.S. sanctions are having on Iran’s ability to address the pandemic. Since then, we have been petitioning the World Health Organization and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to speak out and call for the U.S. to #EndCOVIDsanctions on Iran. Last week we appealed to members of Congress to speak out against the sanctions. 


Thankfully, some brave members of Congress are responding: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, and others have penned a letter to the White House calling for an immediate lifting of sanctions to help ordinary Iranians fight the COVID19 pandemic. Email your Senators and Representative now and tell them to add their name

 

https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/codepink/mailings/4145/attachments/original/COVID-19_IN_IRAN_A_DISCUSSION_WITH_TRITA_PARSI_%289%29.png?1585200082

This afternoon at 2:00 PM ET (NY time) we will be hosting a webinar with brilliant author/analyst Trita Parsi on how U.S. sanctions on Iran are hindering the country’s ability to address the coronavirus crisis, and what we can do. RSVP HERE. Trita Parsi is the co-founder and Executive Vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He is also the founder and former president of the National Iranian American Council, and author of Treacherous Alliance, A Single Roll of the Dice and "Losing an Enemy".

 

There is one more thing that you can do: 
Call the Treasury Department directly and urge them to suspend Iran sanctions. Click here to be patched through and use this sample call script or call (202) 622-2000:
Hi my name is <<your name>>, I’m from <<your city>>. I am gravely concerned about sanctions on Iran in the middle of the global coronavirus pandemic. I am calling on the Treasury Department to immediately lift sanctions on Iran to allow for humanitarian relief and the trade of medical supplies during this time.
Every day that passes and sanctions on Iran remain, the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths rise exponentially. The world must come together right now as a global community to address this pandemic. If we allow the Trump administration to continue to cripple Iran’s ability to respond, we prevent the health and safety of the entire world. Contact Congress right now and tell them to join AOC in action

 

 

===========

 

i.

From: MesOpinions.com [mailto:noresponse@news.mesopinions.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2020
Subject: Covid-19 : la population attend des réponses | Pour le droit à un dépistage massif | Pour la création d'une cellule d'écoute SOS Confinement

Mesopinions.com : Site de petitions et de sondages en ligne - Créer, gérer gratuitement vos pétitions et vos sondages en ligne

Ensemble, tout devient possible

 

https://www.mesopinions.com/fr

 

===========

 

j.

News From Underground

 

From: Mark Crispin Miller
Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2020
Subject: [MCM] Hospitals gagging doctors and nurses on COVID-19 cases, shortages of crucial supplies

 

Why nearly all the doctors quoted in the media are anonymous—and one major

reason why we're in the dark about this crisis.

 

MCM

 

Hospitals Muzzle Doctors and Nurses on PPE, COVID-19 Cases

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/927541

 

Alicia Gallegos

March 25, 2020

 

 

Over the past month, an orthopedic surgeon has watched as the crowd of sick patients at his hospital has grown, while the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff has diminished. As he prepares for another day of staffing testing tents and places his one and only mask across his face, he also receives a daily reminder from hospital management: Don’t talk about it.

 

The surgeon, who works in a COVID-19 hot spot in the Northeast, spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of employer retribution.

"It’s very clear; no one is allowed to speak for the institution or of the institution," he said in an interview. "We get a daily warning about being very prudent about posts on personal accounts. They’ve talked about this with respect to various issues: case numbers, case severity, testing availability, [and] PPEs."

 

The warnings mean staff at the hospital suffer in silence, unable to share the troubling situation with the public or request assistance with supplies.

"I have one mask. We’re expected to reuse them, unless you were exposed or worked with a known COVID victim," the surgeon said. "However, with the numbers in our region rapidly increasing, you can’t assume that people don’t have it or that you don’t have particles on your mask, even if you’re not in a known quarantine zone within the institution."

 

As the COVID-19 health crisis rages on, online platforms have become a common place for health professionals to lament short supplies, share concerns, tell stories, and plead for help. But at the same time, other physicians, nurses, and health care workers are being muzzled by hospital administrators and threatened with discipline for speaking out about coronavirus caseloads and dwindling supplies. Some worry the gag orders are muddying the picture of how hospitals are faring in the pandemic, while placing the safety of frontline workers at risk.

 

The silencing of physicians by hospitals about PPE shortages and other COVID-19 issues has become widespread, said Nisha Mehta, MD, a physician advocate and community leader who writes about PPE on social media. Physicians are being warned not to speak or post publicly about their COVID-19 experiences, including PPE shortages, case specifics, and the percentage of full hospital beds, Dr. Mehta said in an interview. In some cases, physicians who have posted have been forced to take down the posts or have faced retribution for speaking out, she said.

+

“No greater love hath Trump than to lay down your life for his re-election”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/25/donald-trump-coronavirus-response-richard-wolffe

by Richard Wolffe

 

===========

k.

Perspectives on the Pandemic with Dr. John Ioannidis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEr4rmjwd0g&feature=youtu.be

with Dr. John Ioannidis of Stanford University

(1:02:46)

+

Russia presents Covid-19 TREATMENT based on existing anti-malaria drug

https://www.rt.com/russia/484364-russian-drug-treatment-covid19/

+

China Reports That Ozone Autohemotherapy Cures Covid-19

https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2020/04/02/a-report-that-ozone-autohemotherapy-cures-covid-19/

by Paul Craig Roberts

Ozone REVERSES Critically Ill COVID Patients in China, and VERY RAPIDLY

 

===========

 

l.

Coronavirus: Doctor warns of 'incoming disaster' in Gaza
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/coronavirus-doctor-warns-incoming-disaster-gaza-200325195816841.html

by Jillian Kestler-D'Amours

+

Coronavirus: Gaza Strip registers seven new cases
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/coronavirus-palestine-gaza-records-its-seven-cases

by MEE staff

+

From: Leena Dallasheh via H-PAD
Sent: Friday, April 03, 2020
Subject: [H-PAD] EMERGENCY MESSAGE ON GAZA CRISIS

EMERGENCY MESSAGE ON GAZA CRISIS:

COVID-19 has entered the Gaza Strip, endangering thousands of Palestinians. Gaza is densely populated, making physical distancing difficult. Decades of Israeli siege have devastated the infrastructure and crippled the medical system.
It is urgent that medical supplies and other forms of relief be delivered to the residents of Gaza.

TAKE ACTION:

Call your Representative and your Senators and ask them to demand that the Trump Administration release funds that Congress allocated to Gaza via the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. Your members of Congress can be reached through the Congressional Switchboard (1-202-224-3121) or at their district/regional offices. If all else fails, send an email.

 

SUPPORT RELIEF EFFORTS:

If you are able to donate, please give to UNRWA via the USA Committee for UNRWA, Middle East Children’s Alliance, Rebuilding Alliance or United Palestinian Appeal.

 

SOME USEFUL ARTICLES:

 

===========

 

m.

Economic Update: Comedy and Tragedy of Capitalism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SR-bfQr3_M
with Lee Camp
(29:25)
+
Bill Gates on coronavirus: We need an 'extreme shutdown' of 6 to 10 weeks
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bill-gates-on-coronavirus-161803530.html

by Aarthi Swaminathan
 +

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman turned $27 million into $2.6 billion by betting that the coronavirus would tank the market
https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/bill-ackman-hedge-profits-billions-coronavirus-tanks-stock-market-economy-2020-3-1029035562

by Ben Winck
+

COVID-19: We Won’t Go Back to Normal, Because Normal Was the Problem
https://consortiumnews.com/2020/03/27/covid-19-we-wont-go-back-to-normal-because-normal-was-the-problem/

by Vijay Prashad

 

===========

n.

Pandemic Economics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXXJsQb6d4w
with Richard Wolff
(37:39)
+

English version

https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/coronavirus-greater-great-depression-by-nouriel-roubini-2020-03

 

NEW YORK –24 mars 2020  Revue « Project Syndicate »

la version fraçaise

A Greater Depression? Une super Grande Dépression?

Par NOURIEL ROUBINI

(traduit par J-P Juy, ancien professeur d’économie à l’Université Grenoble-Alpes)

 

Nouriel Roubini, n’est ni un gauchiste invétéré ni un perdreau de l’année. C’est un professeur d’économie qui appartient à i’un des courants « mainstream »  de la la pensée économique, mais loin des plus réactionnaires comme ceux de l’école de Chicago (Milton Friedman). Pour lui, pas d’autre économie envisageable que l’économie de marché capitaliste. Pour dire vite, il est du côté du manche. Aujourd’hui, il d’autant plus intéressant de savoir comment il analyse la situation. A mon humble avis, c’est d’une toute autre tenue que ce que l’on entend sur nos chères ondes nationales « à gauche » y compris.

Roubini  est professeur d'économie à la Stern School of Business de l'Université de New York et président de Roubini Macro Associates. Il a joué un rôle important comme conseiller économique du gouvernement US lors de la crise de 2008. Il a pour mérite inégalable d’avoir été un des très rares à voir venir la crise des subprimes des USA en 2007-2008. Il a été par ailleurs économiste principal pour les affaires internationales au Conseil des conseillers économiques de la Maison Blanche pendant l'administration Clinton. Il a travaillé pour le Fonds monétaire international, la Réserve fédérale américaine et la Banque mondiale. Son site Web est NourielRoubini.com. Ce curriculum de N. Roubini plaide pour qu’aujourd’hui on s’arrête quelques instants pour lire ce qu’il tient à dire de la crise en cours.

 

Un petit peu difficile, mais plus haut intérêt !!!  Vous ne serez pas déçus et je pourrai répondre  (dans la mesure de mes compétences) à vos demandes d’explications. Confinement oblige.

 

Bonne lecture. J-P J.

 

 

La traduction est faite avec les moyens du bord accompagnées de quelques notes explicatives de mon cru.

 

« Avec la pandémie de COVID-19 qui échappe toujours à tout contrôle, l’issue  économique la plus favorable que l'on puisse espérer est une récession plus profonde que celle qui a suivi la crise financière de 2008. (C’est moi qui souligne .) Mais compte tenu de la réponse politique à l’emporte-pièce (flailing policy, flail= fléau !)) menée jusqu’ici, la probabilité d'une issue bien pire augmente de jour en jour.

 

« Le choc causé à l'économie mondiale par COVID-19 a été à la fois plus rapide et plus grave que la crise financière mondiale (GFC en anglais)) de 2008 et même que la Grande Dépression (1929-1950). Au cours de ces deux épisodes précédents, les marchés boursiers se sont effondrés de 50% ou plus, les marchés du crédit ont gelé, des faillites massives ont suivi, les taux de chômage ont grimpé au-dessus de 10% et le PIB s'est contracté à un taux annualisé de 10% ou plus. Mais tout cela a pris environ trois ans pour se concrétiser. Dans la crise actuelle, des résultats macroéconomiques et financiers tout aussi désastreux se sont matérialisés en trois semaines.

 

Tout au début du mois, il n'a fallu que 15 jours au marché boursier américain pour plonger dans une phase phase de recul des cours -marché baissier- (une baisse de 20% par rapport à son sommet). C’est la baisse la plus rapide jamais enregistrée. Aujourd'hui, les marchés sont en baisse de 35%, les marchés du crédit se sont resserrés et les écarts de taux (comme ceux des obligations à haut risque) ont atteint leur niveau de 2008. Même les grandes entités financières consacrées telles que Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan et Morgan Stanley s'attendent à une baisse du PIB américain de 6% en rythme annualisé pour le premier trimestre, et de 24% à 30% au second. Le secrétaire américain au Trésor, Steve Mnuchin, a averti que le taux de chômage pourrait monter en flèche au-dessus de 20% (deux fois le niveau record de la Crise de 2008).

En d'autres termes, chaque composante de la demande globale - consommation, dépenses en capital, exportations - est en chute libre. C’est une chute libre  sans précédent. Alors que la plupart des commentateurs soucieux surtout de leurs propres intérêts prévoyaient un ralentissement en forme de V - chute brutale de la production pendant un trimestre puis reprise rapide le lendemain -, il devrait maintenant être clair que la crise du COVID-19 est tout autre chose. La contraction actuellement en cours ne semble être ni en V, ni en U, ni en L (forte baisse suivie de stagnation). Ce ralentissement ressemble plutôt à un I: une ligne verticale représentant les marchés financiers et l'économie réelle s’effondrant.

Même pendant la Grande Dépression et la Seconde Guerre mondiale, l'essentiel de l'activité économique n'a pas cessé complètement, comme c'est le cas aujourd'hui en Chine, aux États-Unis et en Europe. Le meilleur scénario serait un ralentissement moins abrupt que lors de 2008 (en termes de réductions cumulées de la production mondiale) mais de plus courte durée, permettant un retour à une croissance positive d'ici au quatrième trimestre de cette année. Dans ce cas, les marchés commenceraient à se redresser avec l’apparition du bout du tunnel.

Mais le scénario du meilleur des cas suppose plusieurs conditions. Premièrement, les États-Unis, l'Europe et d'autres économies fortement touchées devraient déployer des mesures de dépistage, de traçage et de traitement du COVID-19 à grande échelle, des quarantaines forcées et un verrouillage à grande échelle du type de celui que la Chine a mis en œuvre. Et, comme il pourrait falloir 18 mois pour qu'un vaccin soit développé et produit à grande échelle, les antiviraux et autres thérapies devront être déployés à grande échelle.

Deuxièmement, les décideurs de  la politique monétaire - qui ont déjà effectué en moins d'un mois ce qui leur avait pris trois ans à mettre en œuvre après la crise de 2008 (GFC ) - doivent continuer à mettre à la poubelle les mesures impropres à remédier à la crise. Cela signifie des taux d'intérêt nuls ou négatifs; une politique monétaire résolue dans ses objectifs, l’achat sous conditions par la banque centrale d’actifs privés bancaires ou non, d’abonder le marché de disponibilités monétaires et de facilitations de crédits pour soutenir les banques, les marchés monétaires et même les grandes sociétés (en rachetant du papier commercial et des titres). La Réserve fédérale américaine a élargi ses lignes de swaps[1]  (prêts de devises) sur les marchés mondiaux, mais nous avons maintenant besoin de plus de moyens pour encourager les banques à prêter aux petites et moyennes entreprises à court de liquidités mais encore solvables.

 

Troisièmement, les gouvernements doivent déployer des mesures de relance budgétaire massives, notamment au moyen d’ «helicopter drops» [2] par des versements directs en espèces aux ménages. Compte tenu de l'ampleur du choc économique, les déficits budgétaires des économies avancées devront passer de 2 à 3% du PIB à environ 10% ou plus. Seuls les gouvernements centraux ont les moyens d’empêcher l’effondrement du secteur privé.

Mais ces interventions financées par le déficit doivent être entièrement monétisées (
mises directement à disposition des agents économiques). S'ils sont financés par la dette publique standard, les taux d'intérêt augmenteraient fortement et la reprise serait étouffée au berceau. Compte tenu des circonstances, les interventions proposées depuis longtemps par l’aile gauche des tenants de la théorie monétaire moderne, y compris les largages d'hélicoptères, sont devenues courantes. (Ce qui, en d’autres termes peut signifier qu’il n’y pas d’autre choix possible que de distribuer du pouvoir d’achat… « quoi qu’il en coûte ! »)


Malheureusement, dans le meilleur des cas, la réponse en matière de santé publique dans les économies avancées est bien insuffisante à ce qu’il serait nécessaire pour contenir la pandémie, et le paquet de politique budgétaire actuellement débattu n'est ni assez important ni assez rapide pour créer les conditions d'une récupération en temps opportun. En tant que tel, le risque d'une nouvelle Grande Dépression, pire que l'originale - une super Grande Dépression - augmente de jour en jour.

À moins que la pandémie ne soit stoppée, les économies et les marchés du monde entier poursuivront leur chute libre. Mais même si la pandémie est plus ou moins contenue, la croissance globale pourrait ne pas revenir d'ici la fin de 2020. Après tout, d'ici là, une autre saison virale est très susceptible de commencer avec de nouvelles mutations; les interventions thérapeutiques sur lesquelles beaucoup comptent peuvent se révéler moins efficaces que prévu. Ainsi, les économies se contracteront à nouveau et les marchés s'effondreront à nouveau.

 

En outre, la réponse budgétaire pourrait se heurter à un mur si la monétisation des déficits massifs commence à produire une inflation élevée, en particulier si une série de chocs d'offre négatifs, liés au virus réduit la croissance potentielle. Et de nombreux pays ne peuvent tout simplement pas effectuer de tels emprunts dans leur propre monnaie. Qui va renflouer les gouvernements, les entreprises, les banques et les ménages dans les marchés émergents?

 


En tout état de cause, même si la pandémie et les retombées économiques étaient maîtrisées, l'économie mondiale pourrait encore être soumise à une queue de risques (probabilité pour un investisseur de subir des pertes extrêmes) du fait de «cygnes blancs»[3] . À l'approche des élections résidentielles américaines, la crise du COVID-19 cédera la place à de nouveaux conflits entre l'Occident et au moins quatre puissances révisionnistes[4]: la Chine, la Russie, l'Iran et la Corée du Nord, qui utilisent déjà tous une cyber guerre asymétrique pour saper les États-Unis de l'intérieur. Les cyber attaques inévitables contre le processus électoral américain peuvent conduire à un résultat final contesté, avec des accusations de «truquage» et la possibilités de violences pures et simples et de troubles civils.


De même, comme je l'ai expliqué précédemment, les marchés sous-estiment largement le risque d'une guerre entre les États-Unis et l'Iran cette année; la détérioration des relations sino-américaines s'accélère alors que chaque partie reproche à l'autre l'ampleur de la pandémie de COVID-19. La crise actuelle devrait accélérer la balkanisation et l'effondrement de l'économie mondiale en cours dans les mois et les années à venir.

 
Ce « trifecta » de risques – (c’est à dire, conjonction de :) pandémies incontrôlées, arsenaux de politique économique insuffisants et cygnes blancs géopolitiques - suffira à faire basculer l'économie mondiale dans une dépression persistante et un effondrement des marchés financiers. Après le krach de 2008, une réponse énergique (quoique différée) a tiré l'économie mondiale de l'abîme. Nous ne serons peut-être pas aussi chanceux cette fois.

 

[1]Because bank funding markets (marché du financement bancaire ( funding= financement)) are global and have at times broken down, disrupting the provision of credit to households and businesses in the United States and other countries, the Federal Reserve has entered into agreements to establish central bank liquidity swap lines with a number of foreign central banks. Two types of swap lines were established: dollar liquidity lines and foreign-currency liquidity lines. The swap lines are designed to improve liquidity conditions in dollar funding m :arkets in the United States and abroad by providing foreign central banks with the capacity to deliver U.S. dollar funding to institutions in their jurisdictions during times of market stress.                             

Source : Board of Governors of the Federal System Reserve https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst_liquidityswaps.htm

 

[2] Le concept de monnaie hélicoptère a été défini pour la première fois par l’économiste américain Milton Friedman. Il y développait une métaphore : les autorités monétaires impriment des billets et les jettent d’un hélicoptère dans les rues. Pisani-Ferry, conseiller de Macron, en est partisan.

Jusqu’où peut aller leur magnanimité… pour sauver le capitalisme ?

 Le Quantitative easing (QE) et l'hélicoptère monétaire impliquent tous les deux de la création monétaire par la banque centrale. Avec le QE, la banque centrale crée des réserves qu'elle utilise immédiatement pour acheter des actifs financiers tels que des obligations. Il y a donc un transfert d'actif et un impact très indirect sur l'économie réelle. 

En revanche avec l'hélicoptère monétaire, la banque centrale distribue directement l'argent qu'elle crée, sans obtenir d'actif en contrepartie. C'est donc une forme de création monétaire plus directe.

 

[3] Nouriel Roubini définit comme suit les « cygnes blancs = white swans » ; Feb 17, 2020 :

«  In my 2010 book, Crisis Economics, I defined financial crises not as the “black swan” events that Nassim Nicholas Taleb described in his eponymous bestseller, but as “white swans.” According to Taleb, black swans are events that emerge unpredictably, like a tornado, from a fat-tailed statistical distribution. But I argued that financial crises, at least, are more like hurricanes: they are the predictable result of built-up economic and financial vulnerabilities and policy mistakes. »

https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/white-swan-risks-2020-by-nouriel-roubini-2020-02

 

[4] Dénomination officielle instituée par le Pentagone pour désigner les puissances opposées à la politique internationale US ! Why France is hiding a cheap and tested virus cure

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/54074.htm

 

 

+

En France, le Covid-19 restaure les fractures des “gilets jaunes”

https://www.courrierinternational.com/article/vu-de-suisse-en-france-le-covid-19-restaure-les-fractures-des-gilets-jaunes

par Richard Werly

 +

Economic collapse, massive stimulus and massive debt

https://youtu.be/EcvO_Mx1shY

by Alex Christoforou and Alexander Mercouris

(38:32)

 +

Capitalism is making a mess of the coronavirus crisis

https://youtu.be/hnvxEnK441Q

with Richard Wolff

(2:00)

 

===========

o.

Mehdi Hasan and Jeremy Scahill on the Coronavirus, the “Bailout,” and the 2020 Election

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1Cwazo9Dhc

(32:00)

+

"We will overcome the coronavirus crisis, but we have more serious crises ahead of us"

https://www.pressenza.com/2020/03/noam-chomsky-we-will-overcome-the-coronavirus-crisis-but-we-have-more-serious-crises-ahead-of-us/

with Noam Chomsky

(32:56)

 

===========

p.

Brady Bond solution for America’s Economic Crisis and Unpayable Corporate Debt*

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/54070.htm

by Michael Hudson and Paul Craig Roberts

 

+

The Trump recession is coming, here’s how we can prepare

https://mailchi.mp/inequalitymedia/the-trump-recession-is-coming-heres-how-we-can-prepare?e=88d69d6c0f

with Robert Reich

(4:27)

 

===========

q.

Yemen- ‘Coronavirus

Will KILL Us!’ End the Yemen War!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwEO8mTDlqg

by David Heymann, American infectious disease epidemiologist and Public Health Expert at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

(26:38)

 

===========

r.

News From Underground

From: Mark Crispin Miller
Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2020
Subject: [MCM] Bill Gates is using "charity" to fatten corporations—and control the world

Also—though unmentioned in this article—his "charity" is a eugenic enterprise,

deployed to whittle down the global population, by numbers that would made

Adolf Hitler envious.

MCM

Bill Gates’s Charity Paradox

Nation investigation illustrates the moral hazards surrounding the Gates Foundation’s $50 billion charitable enterprise.

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/bill-gates-foundation-philanthropy/

By Tim Schwab

MARCH 17, 2020

Last fall, Netflix premiered a three-part documentary that promises viewers a rare look at the inner life of one of history’s most controversial businessmen. Over three hours, Inside Bill’s Brain shows us a rare emotional side to Bill Gates as he processes the loss of his mother and the death of his estranged best friend and Microsoft cofounder, Paul Allen.

 

Mostly, though, the film reinforces the image many of us already had of the ambitious technologist, insatiable brainiac, and heroic philanthropist. Inside Bill’s Brain falls into a common trap: attempting to understand the world’s second-richest human by interviewing people in his sphere of financial influence.

 

In the first episode, director Davis Guggenheim underlines Gates’s expansive intellect by interviewing Bernie Noe, described as a friend of Gates.

===========

s.

News From Underground

From: Mark Crispin Miller
Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Subject: [MCM] On Bill Gates' "plannedemic": A piece that's been scrubbed from the Internet

 

Even ZeroHedge has taken it down.

The stuff about Trump is dubious, but the first half, on Bill Gates, is must reading.

MCM

 

 "The Plannedemic"?

by Tyler Durden

Sun, 03/29/2020 - 23:55

 

A PLAN YOU CAN’T TRUST!

For the past decade, Bill gates has been warning us about an inevitable pandemic. Conditioning us. Getting us used to the idea.

Last year, he even held a summit on the matter and ran computer simulations to predict outcomes. Why did a former computer nerd and mogul become so interested in vaccination and disease?

Possibly because he’s worth over $100 billion and thinks he owns the world. He also wants to make an impact on humanity. Getting rid of excess humanity, that is. Bill’s father was once the head of Planned Parenthood. He comes from a eugenics background. Gates frets about world population growth. Is it any wonder he pushes Monsanto’s GMO food as well as harmful vaccines?

Apparently Bill’s computer simulations discovered that people would easily fold under government pressure combined with an unseen enemy. Billions of people are under lockdown right now. Half the world is shut down. Gates must marvel at how easy it was to do it. Things are going according to plan. They can’t control us physically, but he can control us mentally through fear drummed into our brains 24/7 by mass media.

The coronavirus is real, but we’ve had many waves of flu viruses throughout the years. Many thousands die each year from the flu. Our elderly and infirm are the hardest hit.

This time the deaths are being magnified by the Fear Porn Channels.

Statistics are controlled and manipulated to produce panic and hysteria.

The Democrats failed with their Russia collusion lie. They failed with impeachment. They are all for this hysteria because they can blame it all on Trump.

 

https://zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com/s3fs-public/inline-images/afb032820dAPR20200327034523.jpg

Trish Regan was just fired from Fox Business Network because she called out concerns that the Chinese coronavirus was just another attempt to impeach President Donald Trump.

NEVER MISS THE NEWS THAT MATTERS MOST

https://www.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/afb032820dAPR20200327034523.jpg?itok=ol_Yrz0S

ZEROHEDGE DIRECTLY TO YOUR INBOX

Receive a daily recap featuring a curated list of must-read stories.

 

That was too close to the truth for Fox. They fired her.

We now have social distancing to further divide the human race - as if we were all some sort of disease in need of eradication. The corrupt WHO and CDC have us controlled like puppets on strings. We obey without question. Citizens are not allowed to question medical ‘authorities’ without fearing censorship or ridicule. When the time comes for a mandatory vaccine, people will already have become conditioned to obey the medical ‘authorities,’ and it’s all going according to plan.

But some plans have a way of not working out as planned.

https://www.zerohedge.com/politic

 

Gates is a mass murderer who deserves to be prosecuted and imprisoned for life.

 

===========

t.

Noam Chomsky on the Coronavirus: “It's a colossal market failure”

https://youtu.be/Pqqg00Dy_js

(33:17)

+

Roots of Nazi Ideology

https://youtu.be/dvCkw87FLZk

  with Yad Vashem

(11:00)

 

===========

u.

Historians for Peace and Democracy (H-PAD)

https://www.historiansforpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/HPAD-logo-b-w-300x187.jpg

From: Jim O'Brien via H-PAD
Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2020
Subject: [H-PAD] H-PAD Notes 4/2/20: Website addition; Links to recent articles of interest

 

Note: The H-PAD sponsored website U.S. Foreign Policy History & Resource Guide has added a lengthy and well-illustrated essay on The Post-Cold War Era, 1989-2001 by Brian D'Haeseleer, Jeremy Kuzmarov, and Roger Peace, covering the Panama invasion of 1989 and the Persian Gulf War of 1991, among other topics.. 

 

 

Links to Recent Articles of Interest

 

"How America' s Newspapers Covered Up a Pandemic"

By Walter Shapiro, New Republic, posted March 31

On how the government and major newspapers played down the existence of raging 2018 flu epidemic in the last months of World War I, even as 195,000 Americans fell victim to the flu in October 1918 along.

 

"Pandemics and the Shape of Human History"

By Elizabeth Kolbert, New Yorker, posted March 30 (April 6 issue)

"Just as there are many ways for microbes to infect a body, there are many ways for epidemics to affect the body politic." The examples go back to Classic times.

 

"Trump Bashed Immigrants, But Nearly 1/3 of US Doctors Are Immigrants, on Pandemic Front Lines"

By Juan Cole, Informed Comment blog, posted March 30

The author teaches history at the University of Michigan.

 

"Fighting  Virus with the Wrong Tools"

By Catherine Lutz and Neta C. Crawford, The Hill, posted March 28

On the extreme disproportion between spending on the military and on the safety and health of the population. The authors are co-directors of the Cost of War Project at Brown University.

 

"No Mercy Even in a Pandemic: Israeli Occupation Authorities Demolish Makeshift Field Hospital in Palestinian Hamlet"

By Juan Cole, Informed Comment blog, posted March 28

Based on a report by the Israeli peace organization Btselem. The author teaches history at the University of Michigan.

 

"How Some Cities 'Flattened the Curve' During the 1918 Flu Epidemic"

By Nina Strochlic and Riley D. Champine, National Geographic, posted March 27

"Social distancing isn't a new idea - it saved thousands of American lives during the last great pandemic. Here's how it worked."

 

"Illness & Crisis, from Medieval Plague Tracts to Covid-19"

By Spencer Strub, NYR [New York Review of Books[ Daily, posted March 25

The author is a medievalist who teaches in the Harvard College Writing Program.

 

"Analyzing the Patterns in Trump's Falsehoods about Coronavirus"

By Linda Qiu, New York Times, posted March 27

A valuable reminder.The author is a fact check reporter for the New York Times, which she joined in 2017 after working for PolitiFact.

 

"Charles Koch Network Pushed $1 Billion Cut to CDC, Now Attacks Shelter-in-Place Policies for Harming Business"

By Lee Fang, The Intercept, posted March 27

The author is an investigative journalist who was the first to expose the billionaire Koch brothers' role in financing the Tea Party movement.

 

"Prisons and Public Health: Governor Cuomo Must Let Out Thousands or Many Will Die"

By Susan Reverby, New York Daily News, posted March 27

The author is a historian of women, medicine, and nursing and a professor emerita at Wellesley College.

 

Thanks to Rusti Eisenberg, Roger Peace, and an anonymous reader for suggesting articles for the above list. Suggestions can be sent to jimobrien48@gmail.com.

 

===========

v.

Animated History Lessons on the “Spanish Flu”

 

The Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918: Explained (Short Animated Documentary)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nISQbh8rrv8&feature=youtu.be

(4:48)

 

The 1918 Flu Pandemic - Emergence - Extra History - #1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ9WX4qVxEo

(9:20)

 

The 1918 Flu Pandemic - Trench Fever - Extra History - #2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt-VQGNiSWU

(9:30)

 

The 1918 Flu Pandemic - Order More Coffins - Extra History - #3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHlYBBZL_y8

(10:09)

 

The 1918 Flu Pandemic - Fighting the Ghost - Extra History - #4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHGz4QvDVlM

(9:52)

 

The 1918 Flu Pandemic - Leviathan - Extra History - #5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSxaojFNAsU

(10:26)

 

The 1918 Flu Pandemic - The Forgotten Plague - Extra History - #6

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSLKFwXBdbg

(10:24)

+

Spanish Flu: a warning from history

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x1aLAw_xkY

(11:02)

November 30, 2018.

 

The 1918 Spanish Flu-A Conspiracy of Silence | Mysteries of the Microscopic World

Part 1 of 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MHT5xTkL2g

(28:20)

March 26, 2020

 

Part 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkgQQaVgqMw

(29:18)

March 27, 2020.

 

Part 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRU3RFZWY8I

(27:37)

March 28, 2020.

 

===========

w.

From: Medea & Leonardo, CODEPINK [mailto:info@codepink.org]
Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2020
Subject: EMERGENCY: Trump wants a war during COVID19!

CODEPINK.ORG

https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/codepink/mailings/4153/attachments/original/venezuela_covid-19.jpg?1585840793

Trump just hijacked a COVID19 press conference to announce he deployed the Navy to Venezuela to start a war. What does COVID19 have to do with Venezuela? Nothing, and it’s risking a horrific outcome for the Venezuelan people, U.S. troops, and the entire world. Take action quickly to declare No War During a Pandemic, No War on Venezuela!

Rounded Rectangle: ACT NOW! ACT NOW!

Dear fancis,

President Trump just used what was meant to be a press conference about his late and grossly inadequate response to COVID19 to announce a naval deployment to Venezuela — a major step towards a new war during this global pandemic! Trump did it only one day after telling the country that we need to prepare for 100,000 to 240,000 deaths. Wagging the dog — distracting from a scandal or a calamity by shifting focus to something entirely unrelated — is a tried and true political maneuver and we can’t let Trump get away with it. Venezuelan lives are in the balance, U.S. lives are in the balance, and world health and safety is in the balance. Act now!

Add your name to the demand for NO WAR ON VENEZUELA!

Trump claims that he must deploy the military to Venezuela in order to stem the flow of narcotics and HE even had the gall to justify his naval deployment as part of the war on COVID19 itself! WHAT IS HE SMOKING?

You don’t need us to tell you how incompetent the Trump administration’s response to COVID19 has been. We’ve all either seen it or felt it directly and now he’s sending us on the path to war in order to distract us from the uncertainty and danger we’re facing and the negligent, even criminal responses that the Federal government has (or hasn’t) taken thus far.

This latest move is yet another step in Trump’s threat to “smash” and destroy the legitimately elected government of Venezuela. Last week, his administration indicted Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on bogus drug charges and put out a $15 million dollar reward for information leading to his capture. Trump and Defense Secretary Mark Esper recently met with Venezuela’s neighbors Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (who has called COVID-19 a “measly cold and is the only major world leader still refusing to shut down his country) and Colombian President Ivan Duque — suggesting that something even more ominous is in the works. The State Department is also using more aggressive rhetoric, declaring that the “Monroe Doctrine 2.0” is in effect and vowing to apply “maximum pressure”, as CODEPINK recently warned.

In addition to the naval deployment, Trump plans to intensify the sanctions on Venezuela, which, according to former U.N. special rapporteur Alfred de Zayas, have already killed 100,000 innocent civilians in Venezuela.

Trump’s justification for the naval deployment is an alleged plot by Maduro to “flood the streets” of the United States with cocaine. This is preposterous, as the U.S. government’s own statistics show that 90% of the cocaine in the U.S. — which is the world’s biggest consumer of cocaine — comes from Colombia, the world’s biggest producer. Venezuela doesn’t even produce cocaine. At worst, it’s a transit country, but less than 7% of cocaine in the U.S. has flowed through Venezuela. If cocaine was really the issue, the Navy would be deployed to the Pacific, where 84% of it is trafficked, as CODEPINK pointed out in this article.

The Venezuelan government denounced the deployment as an “aggression”, but also said they are willing to “lend any necessary cooperation and coordination aimed at containing the advance of drug trafficking groups and organized crime in the region.” Venezuela has complained for decades about drugs and cartels flowing out of Colombia and the horrible consequences this brings for Venezuelans. If this were really about drugs, why wouldn’t Trump take them up on the offer to face this problem together?

Trump is also blaming Venezuela for the U.S. opioid epidemic, which he claims is exacerbating the spread of COVID19. Trump & co. must think we’re stupid enough to buy his false war during a pandemic! Don’t let Trump wag the dog and tell him to keep his Hands Off Venezuela!

In solidarity with the Venezuelan people and everyone around the world suffering from COVID19,

Medea, Leonard, Ariel, Ann, Asia, Ayanni, Camille, Carley, Caty, Cody, Emily, Jodie, Kelsey, Leonardo, Makena, Medea, Michelle, Nancy, Paki, Teri, and Yousef

 

 

===========

x.

News From Underground

From: Mark Crispin Miller
Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2020
Subject: [MCM] Ozone therapy appears to cure COVID-19 patients—even very ill ones—in China

 

Yet another therapy that promises to obviate any need for the vaccine that

Bill Gates, Dr. Fauci, WHO, the New York Times and all the rest of "our free

press" are weirdly keen to see injected—forcibly, whenever necessary—into 

the whole human race. 

 

MCM

 

 

April 2, 2020

 

Dr. Rowen: Ozone REVERSES Critically Ill COVID Patients in China, and VERY RAPIDLY

https://healthimpactnews.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/02/dr.-robert-rowen.jpg

Dr. Robert J. Rowen

by Dr. Robert J. Rowen

Just Received. Ozone REVERSES Critically Ill COVID Patients in China, and VERY RAPIDLY

If I were given a chance, I strongly believe we could end this nightmare in a few weeks and restore the economy.

My comments are in brackets [ ]

Ozone Autohemotherapy—-A new trial for Novel coronavirus pneumonia

Patient gender: male, 56 years old. He was sent to hospital due to the fever symptom. The nucleic acid testing for the Novel coronavirus was positive, PaO2 74.8mmHg, [Rowen note- this number, 74.8 indicates gravely diseased lungs. The number should be near 100] oxygenation index 80.43, SaO2 95%, Chest CT: ground—glass opacity [really really bad]. The patient was a critical patient.

Specialist consultation team decided to use Ozone Autohemotherapy as follows: ozone concentration 30ug/ml, draw 100ml blood from the patient and mix the blood with the ozone, then transfuse the blood into the body.

The index after 3 hours, PaO2 99.2mmHg [outstanding improvement, only in 3 hours], oxygenation index 132.3, SaO2 98% [this is saturation of blood. 98% is just fine].

The patient felt good, and had a relieved symptom. [Not bad for a critical patient]

After 10 pass of the Ozone Autohemotherapy, PaO2 134mmHg, oxygenation index 462, SaO2 100% (2LPM oxygen flow Nasal Tube in Oxygen Treatment)

+

Subject: News from Airstrip One: UK crackdown on "fake news" and "harmful content".

 

Britain goes Chinese—as the US is also doing, albeit (so far) incrementally, 

and through its corporate surrogates, with Facebook/Google/YouTube/Twitter 

variously cleansing our faux-commons of what they call "misinformation,"

meaning any facts, images and/or theories that contradict, or just diverge 

from, the State Narrative. 

 

However dangerous COVID-19 is, this blackout on all dissident material

is far worse. 

 

MCM

 

 

Coronavirus: Fake news crackdown by UK government

 Woman wearing mask looking at mobile phoneI

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-52086284

30 March 2020

 

The government is cracking down on “misinformation” about the coronavirus pandemic.

A rapid response unit within the Cabinet Office is working with social media firms to remove fake news and harmful content.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said action was needed "to stem the spread of falsehoods and rumours, which could cost lives".

The specialist unit is dealing with as many as 10 incidents each day.

It will try to tackle a range of issues online, such as fake "experts" issuing false medical information and criminals running phishing scams.

Last Tuesday, for example, hours after the government started sending texts urging people to stay at home, several fake versions of the message began circulating on social media.