This is an archived newsroll page on A Socialist In Canada, consisting of headlines and weblinks, with occasional news summary and brief analysis, for the indicated month(s) and year. See the current, ‘World news’ website page here. To find past stories on this and other news pages on this website, use the ‘find’ (word search) function on your web browser. Headlines in red denote items published on the main news page of A Socialist In Canada, mostly authored by Roger Annis.
World news headlines on A Socialist In Canada, December 2020
The mutated SARS-CoV-2 virus is a ticking time bomb, by Zeynep Tufekci, The Atlantic, Dec 31, 2020 There is much we don’t know about the new COVID-19 variant—but everything we know so far suggests a huge danger
Previously reported:
* America’s vaccine rollout is already a disaster, by David Wallace-Wells, New York Magazine, Dec 30, 2020 Almost as soon as the coronavirus arrived in the United States, public-health officials understood quite precisely the basic building blocks of a proper response: test, trace, isolate… The basic path was abundantly clear, as nearly every epidemiologist kept screaming, and yet the country failed spectacularly to walk down it… And now here we are, nearly a year into the pandemic, making precisely the same mistake with the vaccine. That is to say, despite the horrible continuing brutality of this pandemic and the incredible efforts and good intentions of health-care workers, we are, practically speaking, at a social level, not even bothering to try to end it…
* Distribution of the coronavirus vaccine is taking longer in U.S. than expected, New York Times, Dec 30, 2020 …Logistical problems in clinics across the country have put the campaign to vaccinate the United States against Covid-19 far behind schedule in its third week, raising fears about how quickly the country will be able to tame the epidemic. Federal officials said as recently as this month that their goal was to have 20 million people get their first shot by the end of this year.. But according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, just 2.8 million people have received their first dose…
The Kafkaesque imprisonment of Julian Assange exposes U.S. myths about freedom and tyranny, by Glenn Greenwald, published on his Substack outlet, Dec 31, 2020
Also by Glenn Greenwald: The threat of authoritarianism in the U.S. is very real and has nothing to do with Trump, by Glenn Greenwald, published on his Substack outlet, Dec 28, 2020 The COVID-driven centralization of economic power and information control in the hands of a few corporate monopolies poses enduring threats to political freedom.
Senate Democrats vote to concede on $2,000 relief checks while approving bipartisan war budget, by David Sirota and Andrew Perez, The Daily Poster, Dec 30, 2020 How Democrats and Beltway pundits just helped Mitch McConnell undermine Bernie Sanders’ push for direct aid to millions of Americans facing eviction, starvation and bankruptcy
Related:
* After Republicans repeatedly blocked vote on $2,000 checks, 41 Democratic Senators joined McConnell to advance $740 billion Pentagon bill, Common Dreams, Dec 31, 2020 Only six Senate Democrats voted against advancing $740 billion Pentagon bill
* Report by Associated Press, Dec 31, 2020
* Some statistics that illuminate the epic battle to assist millions of Americans facing eviction, bankruptcy and starvation, by David Sirota, Walker Bragman, and Andrew Perez, The Daily Poster, Dec 30, 2020
* Georgians are starving as their millionaire Republican senators refuse to force a vote on higher relief cheques, by David Sirota, published in The Daily Poster, Dec 29, 2020 Senators Loeffler and Perdue could force a Senate vote on $2,000 checks for almost two thirds of Georgia households — but they are only issuing meek and belated platitudes as their state faces a calamity
2020: A dismal economic year, unless you were on Wall Street, NBC News, Dec 30, 2020
Related economic news:
* Tech’s top seven companies added $3.4 trillion in value in 2020, CNBC, Dec 31, 2020
* Higher minimum wages in 24 states and 50 municipalities as of Jan 1, 2021, thanks to the fight for $15, Common Dreams, Dec 31, 2020
America is a failed state. Biden’s inauguration won’t suddenly change that, commentary by Bob Hennelly, Salon.com, Dec 31, 2020 If the purpose of government is to protect a nation’s people, then by any objective measure our system has failed
Ukraine signs up for China’s Sinovac vaccine, with doses expected soon, Reuters, Dec 30, 2020 [Ukraine, a client state of the NATO imperialist military alliance, is #16 in the world for total Covid-19 cases and #35 by population. Its Covid-19 infection rate is roughly equal to Turkey, more than Germany and Russia, and just under half of Spain, France and the UK. Of the top-ten countries for total Covid-19 infections, seven are members of NATO.]
An exclusive look inside Megasis, Iran’s supermarket in Venezuela, seven-minute video report by Anya Parampil, on The Grayzone, Dec 30, 2020
UK coronavirus cases set new daily record of 53,135, prompting ‘extreme concern’, Reuters, Dec 29, 2020 Britain’s government reported 53,135 new cases of COVID-19 on December 29, the highest number since mass testing started in mid-2020 and up sharply from the previous record of 41,385 set on December 28. The number of new deaths recorded within 28 days of a positive COVID test also rose to 414 from 357on Dec 28, taking the total since the start of the pandemic to 71,567. Britain vies with Italy for Europe’s highest death toll from the disease and is now battling a new variant of COVID which scientists say can spread more rapidly…
Related: UK needs tighter COVID rules to avert new ‘catastrophe’, epidemiologist warns, Reuters, Dec 29, 2020 …Britain reported 41,385 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, the highest number since testing became widely available in the middle of 2020, and hospitals have more COVID-19 patients than during the first wave of the pandemic in April…
Daily death toll from Covid-19 in Germany surpasses 1,000 for the first time, Deutsche Welle, Dec 30, 2020 Germany recorded a total of 1,129 deaths from coronavirus within the last 24 hours, reported the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases on December 30. It is the first time that more than 1,000 daily deaths from COVID-19 have been reported in the country. The RKI also registered 22,459 new coronavirus infections within the same 24 hour time period…
The International Criminal Court shuts down an investigation into British war crimes in Iraq. The court is now simply indefensible, by Craig Murray, published on his website, Dec 29, 2020
Bill legalizing abortion passed in Pope’s native Argentina, Associated Press, Dec 30, 2020 and read: report in Common Dreams, Dec 30, 2020
Related: Argentine feminists are about to win the fight for abortion rights, interview with women’s rights campaginer Ofelia Fernández, in Jacobin, Dec 29, 2020
How the U.S. failed to meet the challenge of the coronavirus pandemic, feature essay in USA Today, Dec 11, 2020
Related: The CDC’s failed race against Covid-19, Washington Post, Dec 27, 2020 …On January 13, 2020,the World Health Organization made public a recipe for how to configure a test for the emerging SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Several countries wasted no time getting started: within hours, scientists in Thailand used the instructions to deploy a new test. The Centers for Disease Control in the U.S. would not roll out a test that worked for 46 more days…
British hospitals scramble for space as virus cases soar, Associated Press, Dec 28, 2020
Related:
* Debate on classroom return in Britain in January as country hits grim new COVID records, Sydney Morning Herald, Dec 28, 2020
* Covid-19 learns from experience – unlike Boris Johnson and his crew. We are paying for their mistakes, by Patrick Cockburn, The Independent, Mar 27, 2020
[Britain recorded a record 41,385 new Covid-19 cases on Dec 28, many of which were caused by the new, more virulent strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. According to Worldometer, the per capita death rate from Covid-19 in Britain is equal to the U.S., slightly lower than Italy and France, and three times the rate of Germany. New, daily cases have ranged from 30,000 to 40,000 for nearly two weeks; that is higher than Russia (app. 30,000 daily) and Germany (20,000 to 30,000 daily) during the same time. Russia has more than double the population of Britain, Germany’s population is app. 25 per cent higher.]
Alleged poisoning of Alexei Navalny: The CIA, MI6 and state-funded ‘Bellingcat’ propaganda outlet play key role in accusing Russia, commentary by Aaron Maté, on Pushback (The Grayzone), Dec 27, 2020 (ten-minute video commentary)
Director-general of World Health Organization warns of more pandemics if world does cease the assault on nature and improve public health infrastructure, Deutsche Welle, Dec 26, 2020
Trump reverses on coronavirus stimulus deal, signs package he called a ‘disgrace’, USA Today, Dec 27, 2020
Related:
* Trump’s stunt in delaying signing of relief bill could cost millions a full week of unemployment aid, Common Dreams, Dec 27, 2020
* Biden’s austerity zealotry helped cut the stimulus bill in half, by David Sirota, The Daily Poster, Dec 22, 2020 (also appearing in Jacobin, Dec 22, 2020)
* Joe Biden is turning out to be exactly who he told us he was, interview with Osita Nwanevu, in Jacobin, Dec 22, 2020 Joe Biden’s rise has been a clarifying moment for the left, showing its relative powerlessness within the Democratic Party. But the Left’s ideas are popular in the country at large. The priority now must be advancing those ideas outside the framework of Democratic Party politics. (Osita Nwanevu is a staff writer at The New Republic.)
New cases of Covid-19 are surging in the U.S. Here is an interactive map showing the numbers for each U.S. state and a chart of overall numbers. NPR, Dec 23, 2020
The rise and fall of the People’s Demcoratic party (HDP) in Turkey, the left-wing party that threatened Erdogan’s grip on power. The Guardian, Dec 27, 2020
Associated Press publishes scurrilous report dismissing Covid-19 vaccines being developed in China. Report by Associated Press, Dec 24, 2020
Two reports on Chinese developed vaccines:
* UAE first country to roll out Chinese COVID-19 vaccine for mass use, Global Times, Dec 24, 2020
* China’s Covid-19 vaccines move forward, published in The Diplomat (India), Dec 10, 2020
Inside Trump and Barr’s last-minute killing spree, by Isaac Arnsdorf, ProPublica, Dec 23, 2020 (also published in Rolling Stone magazine) …The push to resume federal executions for the first time since 2003 long predates Barr, with groundwork beginning as far back as 2011 and accelerating after Trump took office in 2017. It could not have happened without the help of Justice Department lawyers, officials at the Bureau of Prisons, two professors who endorsed the government’s injection method, conservative Supreme Court justices who dismissed final appeals and Trump himself… The Justice Department has killed ten people since July–more federal prisoners than any presidency since Franklin Delano Roosevelt–with three more executions scheduled before Biden’s inauguration…
UK and EU reach post-Brexit trade agreement, Associated Press, Dec 24, 2020 and read: report in Washington Post, Dec 24, 2020 Many in Britain and abroad fear that ‘global Britain’ will turn out to be a runt, a ‘Little England’, a diminished power hobbled by nativism and chasing nostalgic dreams stoked by tabloid newspapers …Food and goods flowing between the two sides will now face a blizzard of paperwork and inspections. Thousands of businesses that have never had to fill out a customs form will have to do so every time they sell something over the border. The UK services sector — 80 percent of its economy — will face steep new barriers and many British businesses will have to open affiliates on the continent if they want to keep making money in Europe…
Some warned the vaccine rollout in the U.S. would be a nightmare. They were right, New York Times, Dec 23, 2020 …The Trump administration had expressed confidence that the rollout would be smooth, because it was being overseen by a four-star general, Gustave Perna, an expert in logistics. But it turns out that getting fuel, tanks and tents into war-torn mountainous Afghanistan is in many ways simpler than passing out a vaccine in our privatized, profit-focused and highly fragmented medical system… Throughout the Covid pandemic, the U.S. health care system has shown that it is not built for a coordinated pandemic response (among many other things)…
Related vaccine news:
* Risk of unreliable algorithms deciding who in the U.S. gets the first vaccines, Washington Post, Dec 23, 2020
* Canadian researchers say giving Covid-19 vaccine first to potential super-spreaders would make limited supplies more effective in reaching herd immunity, National Post, Dec 23, 2020
* Inside the first chaotic days of the effort to vaccinate America, by Rachana Pradhan, Lauren Weber and Jay Hancock, Kaiser Health News, Dec 22, 2020
* The Trump administration wants to take credit for a covid vaccine, but conspiracy beliefs by Trump supporters undermine that effort, Washington Post, Dec 24, 2020
New coronavirus cases in U.S. have flattened at historic highs while more and more are being hospitalized and dying. Report by CNN, Dec 23, 2020 …On December 22, the U.S. reported 117,777 people hospitalized with Covid-19, the most since the pandemic began. In addition, 3,400 people were reported dead, the second-highest number of Covid-19 deaths in a single day…
* U.S. deaths in 2020 top three million, by far most ever counted, Associated Press, Dec 22, 2020
* More than 2,900 health care workers in the U.S. died this year. The government barely kept track, by Christina Jewett, Robert Lewis and Melissa Bailey, Kaiser Health News, Dec 23, 2020 More than 2,900 U.S. health care workers have died in the COVID-19 pandemic since March, a far higher number than that reported by the government, according to a new analysis by Kaiser Health News and The Guardian…
* The deadliest year in the history of U.S. drug use, by Zachary Siegel, New York Magazine, Dec 23, 2020 …Overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2019 were significantly higher than 2018, jumping from 67,367 deaths in 2018 to 70,630 overdose deaths in 2019, according to a new report issued December 23 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If that’s not grim enough, a separate health alert published by the CDC this week reports a “concerning acceleration” in overdose deaths for 2020…
With Biden’s new threats, the Russia discourse is more reckless and dangerous than ever, by Glenn Greenwald, published on his website project on Substack, Dec 23, 2020 read the article here in pdf format: The Russia discourse is more dangerous than ever
Related: With hacking, the United States needs to stop playing the victim, commentary by Paul Kolbe, in The New York Times, Dec 23, 2020 (Paul Kolbe served for 25 years in the CIA’s directorate of operations overseas. He is currently director of the Intelligence Project at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.)
Congress passes $900 billion mitigation 2.0 bill as double-dip recession looms, by Jack Rasmus, published on his website, Dec 21, 2020
* We can’t survive on $600. The new relief bill is not a victory, by David Sirota, published in his website project The Daily Poster, Dec 20, 2020 …Here’s the truth: Democrats had a rare opportunity to win on a wildly popular proposal for much bigger survival checks, but they chose to lose. Here’s some more truth: one-time means-tested checks of $600 is not a big victory, and not even the bare minimum that should be considered acceptable during an economic meltdown that has been punctuated by mass starvation and intensifying poverty…
* Buried in pandemic aid bill: Billions to soothe the richest, New York Times, Dec 23, 2020
* Economic consequences of a second ‘Covid mitigation’ bill, by Jack Rasmus, published on his website, Dec 15, 2020
* Where in the world is Kamala Harris? She made headlines pushing $2,000 relief checks, but suddenly she’s nowhere to be found, by David Sirota and Andrew Perez, published in The Daily Poster, Dec 23, 2020 (also appearing in Jacobin, Dec 23, 2020) …Before we get to the California lawmaker, it’s worth noting that her boss, president-elect Joe Biden, seems to have completely checked out of the current debate, after helping create a debacle. He reportedly convinced congressional Democrats to get steamrolled by Mitch McConnell and agree to provide just $600 in direct aid — which Georgia Democratic senate candidate Jon Ossoff rightly called “a joke.” Biden has vaguely promised to push more aid in 2021, but he is not weighing in forcefully on the budget showdown that is unfolding right now…
The real lessons of the Trump regime and the pandemic: We’ve lost control, commentary by Chris Hedges, in Salon.com, Dec 22, 2020
How the coronavirus pandemic has brought more inequality to the world, by Pete Dolack, published on his website Systemic Disorder, Dec 23, 2020
Trump pardons leave out Assange, who exposed U.S. war crimes, but include Blackwater guards jailed for massacring Iraqi civilians, Common Dreams, Dec 23, 2020
Related: Trump’s pardon of four Blackwater mercenaries convicted of Sept 2007 massacre of 17 unarmed innocents in Iraq greeted with derision, grief. Report by NBC News, Dec 23, 2020 [The four mercenary killers were convicted in 2014.]
U.S. sanctions seek to block China’s development of computer semiconductor technology, CNN, Dec 22, 2020
Related: Trade and investment talks between China and the Euroean Union hit another snag as the incoming Biden regime objects. Report in New York Times, Dec 23, 2020
One in five prisoners in the U.S. has contracted Covid-19. That compares to one in 20 among total U.S. population. Report by The Marshall Project, in collaboration with Associated Press, Dec 18, 2020 As the first Americans begin to receive Covid-19 vaccines, the spread of the virus behind bars shows no sign of slowing.
(The Marshall Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that seeks to create and sustain a sense of national urgency about the U.S. criminal justice system.)
Boris Johnson is as incompetent as General Haig at the Somme – the price is 50,000 unnecessary deaths this year, by Patrick Cockburn, columnist, The Independent, Dec 19, 2020
Related:
* New Covid strain is a fresh blow to Britain’s economy, Deutsche Welle, Dec 21, 2020 Flight and freight bans from the UK due to a new strain of the coronavirus have sparked a stock market sell-off across Europe. The blow comes while Britain and the EU remain deadlocked over a post-Brexit trade deal.
* Britain hit with travel bans over new virus strain, Associated Press, Dec 20, 2020
Correlations between Germany’s extreme-right Afd party and Covid-19 infection rates, by Thomas Klikauer and Nadine Campbell, in CounterPunch, Dec 22, 2020
[Germany is #10 in the world in total Covid-19 infections and #19 in the world by population. Its per capita infection rate is one third that of the U.S., half that of France and Spain, and less than half that of Britain. Worldometer]
As Mexico’s security deteriorates, the power of the military grows, Washington Post, Dec 17, 2020 When President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office two years ago, homicides were at record highs, local police forces were infiltrated by crime groups and tens of thousands of people had been forcibly disappeared. His senior aides were blunt in an analysis sent to the national Congress: : the country, they concluded, had been “transformed into a cemetery.” López Obrador, an icon of the Mexican left, was a longtime critic of the U.S.-backed war on drugs. “Soldiers should be returned to the barracks,” he had insisted. But confronted with the highest levels of violence in 60 years, he responded as his predecessors had: He called on the military. Two years into López Obrador’s term, Mexico’s armed forces have assumed a broader role in the country’s affairs than at any point since the end of military-led government in the 1940s…
[Odd how corporate and state-run media in the U.S. and Canada focus on ‘human rights violations’ in Russia and China while ignoring the thousands of people being killed or disappeared annually by police and criminal gangs (one and the same thing) in their close trading partner Mexico. Odd, too, that the same media ignores how the U.S. and Canada have locked Mexico into their ruinous ‘war on drugs’ that kills ten of thousands every year in these three countries making up the NAFTA trade and investment alliance…]
New, more infectious coronavirus strain emerges in Britain, Reuters, Dec 19, 2020
Related: What we know about the UK’s new Covid strain, Deutsche Welle, Dec 20, 2020 …The variant does not lead to an increase in cases of severe illness, and does not cause more serious side effects. Researchers are still evaluating whether the strain will be more or less receptive to the vaccines currently being rolled out. No formal conclusions have been made, although health authorities have said that it was unlikely that the mutation would hinder the vaccines’ effectiveness…
[Britain has the sixth highest number of total Covid-19 cases in the world, at 2.1 million on Dec 21, 2020. It is #21 in the world by population. It is a member of the imperialist NATO military alliance; of the top 15 countries in the world for total Covid-19 cases, eight are members of NATO. They are, in order of total Covid-19 cases: U.S., France, Britain, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland.]
People over 75 and ‘essential workers’ should be first in line for vaccine, CDC panel recommends, Associated Press, Dec 20, 2020 …The vote by the CDC panel on December 20 decided that priority will be given to people 75 and older, who number about 20 million, as well as certain front-line workers, who total about 30 million. The essential workers include firefighters and police; teachers and school staff; those working in food, agricultural and manufacturing sectors; corrections workers; U.S. Postal Service employees; public transit workers; and grocery store workers… It’s not clear how long it will take to vaccinate those groups…
Related:
* ‘Big fight’ breaks out in U.S. over which groups get vaccine first, New York Times, Dec 20, 2020 and read: Major U.S. companies are lobbying in a scrum for early vaccine, Washington Post, Dec 20, 2020
* How are states prioritizing who will get the Covid-19 vaccine first?, Kaiser Health News, Dec 14, 2020
Widespread neo-Nazi infiltration of police agencies in leading NATO member Germany. Feature report in New York Times, Dec 20, 2020
‘Top Glove’ company in Malaysia making PPE for the world is earning record profits while its low-paid workers suffer a large outbreak of Covid-19, New York Times, Dec 19, 2020
Fifty years of tax cuts for the rich failed to trickle down, economics study says, CBS News, Dec 17, 2020 Tax cuts for the wealthy have long drawn support from conservative lawmakers and economists who argue that such measures will “trickle down” and eventually boost jobs and incomes for everyone else. But a new study from the London School of Economics says 50 years of such tax cuts have only helped one group — the rich…
Related:
* ‘Trickle-down’ tax cuts make the rich richer but are of no value to overall economy, LSE study finds, Washington Post, Dec 23, 2020
* Net worth of U.S. billionaires has soared by $1 trillion to a total of $4 trillion since pandemic began, by Americans for Tax Fairness, Dec 8, 2020
Sour grapes: New York Times and ProPublica team up to publish scurrilous report on China’s successful Covid-19 response. Report in New York Times (titled ‘How China censored the coronavirus’) and in ProPublica (titled ‘Leaked documents show how China’s army of paid internet trolls helped censor the coronavirus’), Dec 19, 2020 [The Times/ProPublica report has conveniently been published as the runaway pandemic in the U.S. worsens with 251,000 (!) new cases reported on December 18 and nary a soul in the U.S. government or public health agencies facing criminal accountablity for the more than 300,000 (!) deaths from Covid-19. No wonder corporate media is filled with reports of ‘Chinese censors’ and ‘Russian hackers’! Not to speak of filling its pages with the ‘happy’ news of Covid-19 vaccines, whose long-term effectiveness is still unknown.]
A CIA officer has a headache. Western media blames Russia, by Alan MacLeod, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR.org), Dec 16, 2020
Study published in Lancet Respiratory Medecine journal finds Covid-19 is nearly three times deadlier than influenza, Deutsche Welle, Dec 18, 2020
Related: Covid-19 is not influenza, by Eskild Petersen, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medecine, Dec 17, 2020
Action alert: New York Times erases the U.S. economic war against Venezuela, by Bryce Greene, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting, Dec 19, 2020 [See further below reporting on the Dec 6 National Assembly election in Venezuela.]
U.S. surpasses 3,600 daily coronavirus deaths, breaks prior hospitalization record, NPR, Dec 17, 2020 and read: U.S. surpasses 17 million official Covid-19 cases as FDA panel considers Moderna’s vaccine candidate, CNN, Dec 17, 2020
Related:
* ‘We want them infected’ said Trump appointee to Human Services Department in email pushing to expose infants, kids and teens to Covid to reach ‘herd immunity’, CNN, Dec 16, 2020
* No more ICU beds at the main public hospital in Los Angeles Country, the largest county in the U.S., Kaiser Health News, Dec 18, 2020
Coronavirus vaccinations have started, but people in Africa face a much longer wait, Washington Post, Dec 17, 2020
Related: Will low-income countries be left behind when Covid-19 vaccines arrive?, research paper published at Duke University, Nov 9, 2020 A new global assessment of purchasing agreements for Covid-19 vaccines reveals that high-income countries, as well as a few middle-income countries flush with manufacturing capacity, have already purchased nearly 3.8 billion doses, with options for another five billion. The analysis, released by the Duke Global Health Innovation Center, shows that many of these countries will be able to vaccinate their entire populations — and some will be able to do so many times over — before billions of people are vaccinated in low-income countries…
Text of Vladimir Putin’s annual news conference, published on the website of the preident of Russia, Dec 17, 2020 [This year, the event consists entirely of questions and answers from journalists and Russian citizens.]
We can’t be certain the coronavirus vaccines will stop the pandemic, by Graham Lawton, New Scientist (UK weekly), Nov 18, 2020 (print edition of Nov 21) read the article here in PDF format: Will vaccines stop the pandemic?
A Covid-19 vaccine that was hijacked by the rich, by Thalif Deen, Inter Press News, Dec 11, 2020 [In this very informative article, the writer uses the term ‘vaccine nationalism’ to decribe the policy by rich countries of buying and hoarding the world’s present and future Covid-19 vaccine supply. A more accurate term for the phenomenon is ‘vaccine imperialism’.].
Related: Intellectual property monopolies block Covid-19 vaccine access, commentary by Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram, InterPress Service, Dec 15, 2020
As the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic worsens, seriously eroding the credibility of the multi-country imperialist alliances led by the U.S., corporate media is intensifying its ‘cybersecurity’ hysteria against Russia and China. See:
* I was the Homeland Security adviser to Trump. We’re being hacked, commentary in New York Times, Dec 16, 2020 Last week, the cybersecurity firm FireEye said it had been hacked and that its clients, which include the United States government, had been placed at risk. This week, according to SolarWinds, a publicly traded company that provides software to tens of thousands of government and corporate customers, it also hacked…
* U.S. government confirms ‘significant’ hack, Deutsche Welle, Dec 17, 2020 …The U.S. government confirmed on December 16 that a massive hack had occurred in at least two federal departments… “This is a developing situation, and while we continue to work to understand the full extent of this campaign, we know this compromise has affected networks within the federal government,” said a joint statement from the FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)… Russian hackers are believed to be behind the attack [emphasis added]…
[‘Cybersecurity’ warnings as well as wall-to-wall news coverage of the ‘miracle’ of Coronavirus vaccines being manufactured by Big Pharma are the new, stepped-up modus operandi of the imperialist governments in seeking to deflect their criminally negligent responses to the pandemic during the past ten months. Soon to be unleashed will be ‘vaccine imperialism’ (aka ‘vaccine nationalism’)–the use of the excess production and purchases of Covid-19 vaccines by the wealthy countries to favour allied and subordinate countries and threaten vaccine-poor countries. Unfortunately for the wealthy countries, the vaccine producing capacities of Russia and China will blunt the power and reach of vaccine imperialism. As well, any successes by the Russian and Chinese-produced vaccines will blunt the imperialist argument that the two countries ‘cannot be trusted’ to produce and adminster an effective vaccine. This particular propaganda drive is already been waged against China, in the form of allegations of ‘cover-up’ and ‘silencing medical experts’ when the pandemic first struck the city of Wuhan and its surrounding province of Hubei. Now you can read this innuendo-filled attack against Russia: Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout draws wary, mixed responses, Associated Press, Dec 17, 2020.]
Police agencies in the imperialist countries are deflecting the criminal Covid-19 negligence by their respective governments with news plantings of ‘foreign threats’ to global vaccine supply. See:
* Cyberattacks discovered on vaccine distribution operations, New York Times, updated Dec 14, 2020
* Hackers threaten to disrupt COVID-19 vaccine supply chain, The Hill, Dec 12, 2020
* Canada’s spy agency warns of threats to vaccine distribution chain, CBC News, Dec 17, 2020 [This report is the latest example of corporate media in Canada, in this case the state-run CBC, choosing to serve as a press agency of the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS).].
* Cyberspies target Covid vaccine ‘cold chain’ distribution network, The Guardian, Dec 3, 2020
* Germany’s communications security agency warns of ‘cyberattacks’ against pharmaceutical companies developing vaccines, Deutsche Welle, Dec 5, 2020
* Russian hackers are targeting U.S., UK and Canada coronavirus vaccine research, Deutsche Welle, July 16, 2020
Waste, negligence and cronyism: Inside Britain’s pandemic spending, investigative report in New York Times, Dec 17, 2020 …To date, just over half of all of the contracts awarded in the first seven months remain concealed from the public, according to the National Audit Office, a watchdog agency… …The British central government published data on pandemic-related contracts worth $22 billion awarded from January through November. Many more contracts remain secret. Taken together, about half of that $22 billion went to companies with political connections, no prior experience or histories of controversy…
Related: Cronyism and clientelism: The Tory government’s outsourcing of the pandemic response in Britain, by Peter Geoghegan, London Review of Books, print edition of Nov 5, 2020
Covid vaccines are a bonanza for digital supply chain tracking industry, Reuters, Dec 16, 2020
Related: How drug companies will profit from making Covid-19 vaccines, Quartz.com, Dec 1, 2020
Keeping tax low for the rich does not boost economy, by London School of Economics, Dec 16, 2020
Related: Study of 50 years of tax cuts for the rich confirms that ‘trickle down’ theory is an absolute sham, Common Dreams, Dec 16, 2020
According to Australian and world media, the real crime isn’t Australian war crimes in Afghanistan but a Chinese cartoon graphic about them, by Joshua Cho, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting, Dec 15, 2020
Related: Former federal court judge named as special investigator for Afghanistan war crime allegations, ABC.net.au, Dec 16, 2020 [Mark Weinberg QC sits on the Victoria state supreme court and will head an inquiry into allegations that Australian special forces committed up to 39 murders in Afghanistan. Nineteen current and former soldiers are facing criminal prosecutions. Last year, Justice Weinberg came to national prominence when he offered a dissenting view in the Victorian Court of Appeal’s decision to uphold Cardinal George Pell’s historical child abuse convictions.]
Empire with a human face, by Patrick Lawrence, Consortium News, Dec 14, 2020 …Of all the Biden regime’s failures in the making, one can already see in prospect that none will be greater than its insistence that the U.S. must continue to treat China as a predatory competitor and strategic adversary…
[This article describes well the danger of the heightening aggression against the Chinese people being waged by the U.S. government and its imperialist allies. But the article reveals a certain naivete when it describes the foreign policy of the outgoing Trump regime–and that of the incoming Biden regime–as marked by “mistakes” and “blindness”. Not so. The policy is called ‘imperialism’. As the two world wars of the 20th century amply displayed, militarism and wars are fundamental features of capitalism in its imperialist stage, regardless of how much wars may imperil the very system waging them. Global warming and rising social inequities are also fundamental to the expansionist, capitalist economic system. These fundamental features of the expansionist, capitalist economic system can only be eliminated by taking political power out of the hands of the capitalist classes and embarking upon a new path of human development, guided by principles of social justice and ‘drawdown’ from all the ecological destruction that is characteristic of today’s world.]
Poor countries face long wait for vaccines despite promises, Associated Press, Dec 15, 2020 …The ambitious initiative known as COVAX created to ensure the entire world has access to Covid-19 vaccines has secured only a fraction of the two billion doses it hopes to buy over the next year, has yet to confirm any actual deals to ship out vaccines and is short on cash… To date, COVAX’s only confirmed, legally binding agreement is for up to 200 million doses, though that includes an option to order several times that number of additional doses, GAVI spokesman James Fulker said. It has agreements for another 500 million vaccines, but those are not legally binding…
Related vaccine news:
* Wealthy countries have ‘cleared the shelves’ of Covid-19 vaccines, New York Times, Dec 14, 2020 As a growing number of coronavirus vaccines advance through clinical trials, wealthy countries are fueling an extraordinary gap in access around the world, laying claim to more than half the doses that could come on the market by the end of next year…
* Despite promises of solidarity on Covid-19, rich countries are snapping up the supply of promising vaccines, CNN, Dec 13, 2020
* The emergence of ‘vaccine imperialism’: Canada planning to selectively donate its vaccine excess to lower-income countries. Report by Reuters, Nov 18, 2020
Brazil gov’t ordered by judge to prepare pandemic vaccination plan, Associated Press, Dec 14, 2020 Brazil’s government has presented a Supreme Court justice with a coronavirus immunization plan that provides initially for only enough shots for about a quarter of the population and does not indicate a start date. The document, which was made public on December 12, was submitted by President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration the previous night to judge Ricardo Lewandoswki, who had ordered the report after an opposition political party filed a lawsuit seeking information on the government’s immunization plans for the pandemic…
Related: Brazil’s Covid vaccine plan is mired in chaos, New York Times, Dec 14, 2020
Covid-19 now kills more than one American every minute. The rate keeps accelerating as the death toll tops 300,000, CNN, Dec 14, 2020
Covid-19 in Europe, as of Dec 14, 2020 (charts by Reuters): 
Related:
* 
Italy’s staggering death toll from Covid-19 is now the highest in Europe and poses uncomfortable questions, Associatd Press, Dec 14, 2020
* Germany shatters record for Covid deaths as country enters lockdown, CNN, Dec 16, 2020 and read: report in Deutsche Welle, Dec 16, 2020
* London faces tightest restrictions; sees new virus variant, Associated Press, Dec 14, 2020
* In Sweden, infections and calls for a lockdown are rising, New York Times, Dec 15, 2020 [Covid-19 cases have been at record highs for the past two months in Sweden, swinging from 4,000 to 7,000 daily. The country is #35 in the world for Covid-19 cases and #91 for population. Its per capita death rate from Covid-19 is not much below that of Brazil, more than double that of Russia and nearly triple that of Germany.]
The Zero Covid Charter, issued by the People’s Assembly Against Austerity, Oct 31, 2020 (Britain) Ten-point charter, read it here in pdf format: The ‘Zero Covid Charter’
Please ensure that this is adopted by your trade union, Labour Party constituency, campaign group or any other organisation you are involved in…
Will Turkish drones help Ukraine seize territory from autonomous republics of Lugansk and Donetsk? Report by Fehim Tastekin, Al Monitor, Dec 11, 2020 Ukrainian news media buzzes with speculation that Ukraine may be planning to reclaim control of Donbass by Turkish drones, but direct involvement by Turkey in the Ukraine-Russia conflict would cost Ankara dearly in its relations with Moscow.
Related: The armies of the right: Inside Ukraine’s extremist militias, letter from Kyiv by Aris Roussinos, Harper’s Magazine (print monthly), print issue of January 2021 read the article here in PDF format, including several explanatory notes by A Socialist In Canada: The Armies of the right in Ukraine
With news of Hunter Biden’s criminal probe, recall the media outlets that peddled the ‘Russian disinformation’ lie, report by Glenn Greenwald, published on his Substack website platform, Dec 11, 2020 The now-validated facts about Hunter are precisely those the U.S. media — in tandem with Silicon Valley and the intelligence community — suppressed based on lies
Postscripts:
* Russian government hackers are behind a broad espionage campaign that has compromised U.S. agencies, Washington Post, Dec 13, 2020 Russian government hackers breached the Treasury and Commerce departments, along with other U.S. government agencies, as part of a global espionage campaign that stretches back months, according to people familiar with the matter [emphasis added]… …The Russian hackers, known by the nicknames APT29 or Cozy Bear, are part of that nation’s foreign intelligence service, the SVR, and they breached email systems in some cases, said the people familiar with the intrusions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity [emphasis added] …The scale of the Russian espionage operation appears to be large, said several individuals familiar with the matter [emphasis added] … FireEye reported last week that it was breached and that hacking tools it uses to test clients’ computer defenses were stolen. The Washington Post reported that APT29 was the group behind that hack… [emphasis added]…
* Hackers backed by Russian government reportedly [sic] breached US government agencies, The Verge, Dec 13, 2020 The same Russian government hacking group responsible for a security breach at FireEye compromised the Treasury and Commerce departments and other U.S. government agencies, The Washington Post has reported [emphasis added]…
* Scope of Russian hack becomes clear: Multiple U.S. agencies were hit, feature article in New York Times, Dec 14, 2020 [The sum total of sources cited by the New York Times for this latest claim of ‘Russian hacking’ are the private cybersecurity firm FireEye (as per Washington Post reporting) and ‘investigators’.].
Also by Glenn Greenwald: Biden appointee Neera Tanden spread the conspiracy that Russian hackers changed Hillary’s 2016 votes to Trump, by Glenn Greenwald, Substack, Nov 30, 2020
The Covid-19 wave of winter 2021 and the death toll, by Michael Roberts, published on his website, Dec 14, 2020 …My estimate of 18% infected globally may well be too high. If I lowered the global infection rate to 15 per cent, the infection fatality rate (IFR) would be in the 0.6-0.7% range, which compares to the annual flu IFR of less than 0.1 per cent. So for the hard-hit countries, COVID-19 is at least five times more deadly than annual flu. And, of course, we are now finding out that, unlike flu, there is often long-lasting damage to human organs from Covid…
[The highest death rates from Covid-19 per million population among large countries (selected) are: Belgium 1,546; Peru 1,502; Italy 1,076; Spain 1,018; UK 943; U.S. 924; Argentina 898; France 886; Mexico 880; Brazil 851; Chile 830; Colombia 764; Sweden 742; Switzerland 702; Iran 621. Other countries (selected) are: Poland 607; Netherlands 588; South Africa 390; Canada 356; Russia 325; Germany 269; world average 208; Turkey 194, India 104. But it’s a different and positive story in other countries, including in Venezuela, where the government is under a coup threat from the warmaking alliance of the U.S., Canada and Europe: Taiwan 0.3, Vietnam .4, New Zealand 5, South Korea 12, Hong Kong 16, Japan 21, Nicaragua 24, Syria 30, Venezuela 34, Australia 35. (Worldometer)]
Covid-19 death toll approaches 300,000 in U.S., worst is yet to come Report in USA Today, Dec 13, 2020 …The influential model from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation predicts more than 460,000 deaths by March 1, with or without the planned rapid vaccine rollout. By comparison, about 405,000 American service members perished in World War II over nearly four years…
Related U.S. news:
* Worst year on record for drug overdoses in Virginia, Associated Press, Dec 14, 2020 Rosie Hobron, of the Virginia Department of Health’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, told The Virginian-Pilot that as of October, the most recent report available, there will be 2,053 deaths from drugs in Virgina (pop. 8.5 million) in 2020. Most of the deaths are from them opioids, but there also have been deaths caused by cocaine, benzodiazepines, meth and other drugs. The state has never recorded more than 1,626 in a single year…
* The opioid crisis and the 2020 US election: crossroads for a national epidemic, report in The Lancet, Oct 6, 2020 …In 2019, reported deaths from drug overdose in the USA reached an all-time high of almost 72,000, with opioids involved in more than two-thirds of the total deaths… As of July 2020, deaths from drug overdose in the USA rose by an estimated 13 per cent in the first half of the year compared with 2019…
Covid-19 is ravaging the world but life looks almost normal in much of Africa, Washington Post, Dec 12, 2020
Related:
* When will COVID-19 vaccinations start in African countries?, Al Jazeera, Dec 11, 2020 With wealthy countries having already secured large numbers of doses, calls are growing for equitable distribution of coronavirus vaccines …”Wealthier nations have bought up enough doses to vaccinate their entire populations nearly three times over by the end of 2021 if those currently in clinical trials are all approved for use,”, says a report by the People’s Vaccine Alliance. “Canada tops the chart with enough vaccines to vaccinate each Canadian five times. Updated data shows that rich nations representing just 14 per cent of the world’s population have bought up 53 per cent of all the most promising vaccines so far.” …
* African health official blasts COVID vaccine inequality, Al Jazeera, Dec 10, 2020 Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director John Nkengasong warned on December 10 that Africa might not see vaccines until after the second quarter of 2021… His remarks come a day after a report released by the People’s Vaccine Alliance warned that as many as 90 percent of the population in dozens of poorer countries will miss out on the coronavirus vaccine next year…
* Africa needs 60 per cent of its population vaccinated within the next two-to-three years to achieve herd immunity, says continent’s top public health official, Associated Press, Dec 3, 2020 …African health officials are taking heart in vaccine progress, but concerns are growing that the continent of 1.3 billion people will be near the end of the line in obtaining doses. Nkengasong isn’t sure whether vaccines will be available in Africa before the second quarter of next year…
[New, daily Covid-19 cases have doubled in South Africa in recent days, to app. 8,000. Its per capita case rate is slightly below that of Germany; it is #18 in the world for total cases and #25 in population. The next hardest-hit country in Africa is Morocco, with app. 4,000 new daily cases in recent days. It is #30 by total cases and #40 by population; its per capita rate is two-thirds that of South Africa. Nigeria is #7 in the world by population and #85 by total Covid-19 cases; Egypt is #14 and #63, respectively. Nigeria’s per capita case rate is 2.5 per cent that of South Africa; Egypt’s rate is eight per cent that of South Africa.].
Previously reported: Vaccine ‘hoarding’ by wealthy countries triggers growing worries in poorer countries, by Geoffrey York, Africa bureau chief, Globe and Mail, Dec 10, 2020 read the article here in pdf format: Vaccine hoarding
International Criminal Court turns down request to investigate China for ‘crimes against humanity’ against Turkic people (Uyghers), December 14, 2020 [The court based its decision on two factors. One, China is not a signatory to the ‘Rome Staute’, the international treaty that established the International Criminal Court in 1998. Two, the complaint to the ICC was based on accusations that Turkic people are being forcibly extradited to China from third countries that are signatories to the statute and therefore the statue applies in those cases. But the court said there was insufficient evidence to verify this claim. The ICC decision can be read here, beginning on page 19, articles 70 to 76 inclusive. The complaint was submitted to the ICC in July 2020 on behalf of the ‘East Turkistan Government in Exile’ and the ‘East Turkistan National Awakening Movement’. The lead lawyer on the case is Rodney Dixon, QC, a UK-based lawyer active in international law. In 2018, he sought to bring the government of Syria before the ICC for ‘crimes against humanity’.]
Judges across the political spectrum have rejected Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, Washington Post, Dec 12, 2020 …In a remarkable show of near-unanimity across the nation’s judiciary, at least 86 judges have rejected at least one post-election lawsuit filed by Trump or his supporters. The string of losses was punctuated on December 11by the brief and blunt order of the Supreme Court, which dismissed an attempt by the state of Texas to thwart the electoral votes of four states that went for President-elect Joe Biden… Before Election Day [Nov 3], federal judges nominated by Trump largely ruled against efforts to loosen voting rules in the 2020 campaign, siding with Republicans seeking to enforce restrictions, a previous Post analysis found…
Related: In challenging election defeat, Trump cements his control over the Republican Party, Washington Post, Dec 12, 2020 …For the past six weeks, Trump has staged the ultimate loyalty test for the party faithful as he forced Republican officials to opt between siding with him and the nation’s democratic process. Through public displays of support and lengthy silences, the vast majority of elected Republicans chose to back Trump… Trump’s failing bid to reverse his electoral defeat has nonetheless ensured his brand of politics will remain the party’s standard even after he leaves office… A Quinnipiac University poll released December 10 found that 77 per cent of Republicans believe there was widespread fraud and 70 per cent believe Biden’s win was not legitimate. The poll was taken after more than 40 fraud cases had been dismissed or withdrawn due to lack of evidence…
AstraZeneca and Russia’s Sputnik V lab to share data in seeking coronavirus vaccine advances, Washington Post, Dec 11, 2020 The developers of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, the Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, and the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca will share science to explore possible advances against the coronavirus, both sides announced on December 11. It’s the first major collaboration of labs in the frenzied vaccine hunt…
After Nagorno-Karabakh war, trauma, tragedy and devastation, New York Times, Dec 11, 2020
Related:
* Evidence of widespread atrocities emerges following Karabakh war, by Ulkar Natiqqizi and Joshua Kucera, Eurasianet.org, Dec 9, 2020 The Azerbaijani government has promised to prosecute any war crimes, but many are skeptical of its sincerity A steady stream of videos depicting shocking atrocities by Azerbaijani soldiers against Armenian civilians and prisoners of war has emerged on social media…
* Armenia: Tens of thousands rally to demand PM’s resignation over Azerbaijan pact, Deutsche Welle, Dec 5, 2020
* Without a clear alternative, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan clings to power, by Ani Mejlumyan, Eurasianet.org, Dec 10, 2020 …With many Armenians uneasy with the resurgence of old regime figures, the protests in Yerevan have been relatively limited in size. They certainly are far smaller, to date, than the 100,000-plus that Pashinyan managed to gather a little less than three years ago in his successful campaign to oust then-prime minister Serzh Sargsyan…
* What did Turkey gain from the Armenia-Azerbaijan war?, by Nicholas Danforth, Eurasianet.org, Dec 11, 2020 Turkey helped Azerbaijan win on the battlefield, but what Ankara stands to gain geopolitically remains to be seen
Amazon warehouse workers in Canada saw injury rates double, then Covid hit. Inside a hidden safety crisis, by Sara Mojtehedzadeh, work and wealth reporter, Toronto Star, Dec 11, 2020 …While Amazon’s injury record has received significant attention in the United States, its record in Canada is worse: last year, its injury rate was 15 per cent higher than the company’s U.S. average. In Toronto-area facilities, injury rates have more than doubled since 2016. The data is based on Amazon’s internal safety records shared with the Star by the U.S.-based investigative journalism outlet Reveal, whose Pulitzer Prize-nominated reporting has detailed a growing safety crisis at the trillion-dollar company… Amazon’s own internal safety records paint a far bleaker picture than its standing at Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. An analysis of hundreds of WSIB claims obtained by the Star through a Freedom of Information request reveals how Amazon aggressively disputes, challenges or undermines the severity of its workers’ injuries. And while the Star has confirmed at least 25 Covid-19 cases among workers at one Brampton [Toronto region] warehouse alone, Amazon will not confirm the number of frontline staff who have tested positive for the virus… Earlier this year, Amazon rescinded its $2-an-hour Covid pay bump for warehouse workers in Canada. Temporary staff do not have paid sick days…
Outposts of the U.S. surveillance empire: Denmark and beyond, by Ron Ridenour, published in Covert Action Magazine, Dec 10, 2020 (Ron Ridenour is a U.S.-born author and journalist, an anti-war and civil rights activist since 1961. He worked in Cuban national media from 1988 to 1996. He now lives in Denmark.)
Progressive media promoted a false story of ‘conflict beef’ from Nicaragua, by John Perry, published by Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR.org), Dec 7, 2020
FDA intends to ‘proceed towards an authorization’ of Covid-19 vaccine, official says, as cases soar, CNN, Dec 11, 2020
Related U.S. news:
* U.S. sets new record with over 3,000 COVID deaths in a single day, The Hill, Dec 9, 2020
* ICU beds in the U.S. are running critically short as Covid-19 cases surge, The Hill, Dec 9, 2020
* What seven ICU nurses want you to know about the battle against Covid-19, Washington Post, Dec 7, 2020
* New CDC coronavirus forecast: 362,000 dead in U.S. by Jan 2, The Hill, Dec 10, 2020 [The latest modeling from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation projects more than 345,000 deaths in the United States by Jan 1, 2021.].
* How the COVID-19 pandemic exploded in the U.S. from March to December, USA Today, Dec 8, 2020
Germany reporting record Covid-19 cases and deaths, Deutsche Welle, Dec 11, 2020 [Germany’s per capita infection rate for Covid-19 is now one third that of the U.S., app. one half those of France and Britain, and slightly less than that of Russia.]
Vaccine candidates fall by the wayside in Europe and Australia, CNN, Dec 11, 2020
Related: Major setback in development of a Covid-19 vaccine for France’s Sanofi Pasteur and UK partner GlaxoSmithKline, STAT News, Dec 11, 2020
Vaccine ‘hoarding’ by wealthy countries triggers growing worries in poorer countries, by Geoffrey York, Africa bureau chief, Globe and Mail, Dec 10, 2020 read the article here in pdf format: Vaccine hoarding …In 67 lower-income countries, vaccine supplies are likely to cover just ten per cent of the population unless there is urgent action to help them, according to the People’s Vaccine Alliance, a coalition representing groups such as Oxfam and Amnesty International. Rich countries with just 14 per cent of the world’s population have purchased 53 per cent of the most promising vaccines so far, the alliance said in a report this week… Canada [population 37.6 million] has secured up to 414 million doses of various vaccines and vaccine candidates. Activists have pointed to Canada as an example of “shopping sprees” and “vaccine hoarding” that could cause unfairness for poorer countries…
Related:
* African health official blasts ‘terrible’ vaccine inequality, Associated Press, Dec 11, 2020 As the world watches mass vaccinations begin in Britain, Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director John Nkengasong has warned that Africa might not see vaccines until after the second quarter of 2021. …As Nkengasong spoke, the World Trade Organization was meeting in Geneva on a request by South Africa and India to waive some intellectual property rules to allow for faster, easier access to COVID-19 vaccines around the world…
* Echoes of a pandemic: Experts fear lessons from the 2009 H1N1 vaccine drive are being ignored, Washington Post, Nov 17, 2020 …During fall 2009, production problems delayed delivery of the federal pandemic vaccine just as deaths were mounting, notably among children. People stood in line for lifesaving inoculations, but by mid-October, only about a quarter of the quantity that officials had been promising for months was available. Uncertain when further supplies would arrive, public health departments canceled immunization clinics. People were confused and lost confidence in the government’s strategy. By the time enough vaccine was available, the threat from H1N1 had diminished, and many people lost interest in being immunized…
* Biden has fought a pandemic before. It did not go smoothly, Politico, May 9, 2020 The Obama administration’s ability to stop the swine flu came down to luck, one former aide says …Over the course of a year, the H1N1 flu infected 60 million Americans, but claimed only 12,469 lives, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warns ‘vaccine nationalism’ is moving at full speed, Associated Press, Dec 10, 2020 and read: Rich countries hoarding Covid-19 vaccines, campaigners warn, Deutsche Welle, Dec 9, 2020
Related:
* Fund COVAX to reduce Covid-19 vaccination distribution inequity, UN secretary general urges, report by UN News, Dec 9, 2020
* Which countries have reserved the most, and least, Covid-19 vaccine purchases, Bloomberg News, Dec 9, 2020 (with map and charts)
Want vaccines fast? Suspend intellectual property rights, op-ed commentary in New York Times, Dec 7, 2020 Otherwise, there won’t be enough shots to go around, even in rich countries. (Dean Baker is the senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC. Achal Prabhala is the coordinator of the AccessIBSA project, which campaigns for access to medicines, and a fellow of the Shuttleworth Foundation, in Bangalore. Arjun Jayadev is a professor of economics at Azim Premji University, in Bangalore, and a senior economist at the Institute for New Economic Thinking.)
Related vaccine news:
* Pakistan pins its hopes on a Chinese vaccine, Deutsche Welle, Dec 9, 2020
* Argentina reaches agreement with Russia for ten million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine, Reuters, Dec 10, 2020 [According to the RT news service, Argentina’s vaccine will be produced by the international partners of the Russian Direct Investment Fund in India, China, South Korea and other countries.].
* AstraZeneca/Oxford, once a frontrunner in COVID-19 vaccine race, has work to do to catch up, Reuters, Dec 8, 2020 and read: Blunders eroded U.S. confidence in early vaccine front-runner AstraZeneca/Oxford, New York Times, Dec 8, 2020 …On September 6, AstraZeneca/Oxford quietly halted trials of its vaccine around the world, including a late-stage study in the United States. It acted after a participant in Britain fell ill… The U.S. government had pledged more than $1 billion to AstraZeneca to finance the development and manufacturing of its vaccine and to supply the United States with 300 million doses if it proved effective. FDA regulators learned about the halt in the company’s trials by news reports. The episode might have been chalked up to a simple miscue. But it was part of a pattern of communication blunders by AstraZeneca that has damaged the company’s relationship with regulators, raised doubts about whether its vaccine will stand up to intense public and scientific scrutiny and, in at least one instance, slowed the vaccine’s development…
Argentina’s lower house approves bill legalizing abortion, Associated Press, Dec 11, 2020
Trump regime issues sweeping new curbs on asylum eligibility, Politico, Dec 10, 2020 Individuals who claim that they will face persecution based on gender or gang violence, among other grounds, would also generally not qualify for asylum under the new rules
France rises against the security law: a growing convergence of struggles, by Susan Ram, Counterfire (UK), Dec 7, 2020
Previously reported:
* Following protests by tens of thousands across France, government backtracks on plan to outlaw video recordings of police conduct, Reuters, Nov 30, 2020 More than 133,000 people protested across France against the new law on November 28, including 46,000 in Paris.
* Is French president Emmanuel Macron pandering to the far right?, commentary in Al Jazeera, Nov 30, 2020
UN chief pleads for stronger climate policies to end ‘suicidal’ addiction to fossil fuels, Common Dreams, Dec 2, 2020 “The state of the planet is broken. Humanity is waging war on nature. This is suicidal.” That’s how United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres began a December 2 address at Columbia University in which he reflected on the past 11 months of extreme weather and challenged world leaders to use the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic as an opportunity to construct a better world free from destructive greenhouse gas emissions…
Related: Text of December 2 address at Columbia University by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Dec 2, 2020 (The text is in multiple languages at the weblink.)
Life in Wuhan back to normal amid COVID precautions, Deutsche Welle, Dec 10, 2020 [Deutsche Welle follows the Western, corporate media guideline that nothing positive can be said about China without counter-balancing negatives. This otherwise informative news report repeats the worn claims that in the initial phase of the future pandemic in late 2019/early 2020, the Chinese government and health authorities “silenced whistleblowers” and were “reluctant to reveal” to the world the full scale of the pandemic. The cited source for this claim is… “a 30-year-old named Li” who spoke to the Deutsche Welle reporter.]
This is how many people die from the flu each year, according to the CDC, report in Explore Health, Sep 24, 2020 …Flu season in the U.S. runs from October through May. Because the flu is not a reportable disease in most states, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not have an exact count of the number of people sickened each year. Instead, it develops estimates based on rates of laboratory-confirmed, flu-associated hospitalizations. Preliminary CDC estimates for the 2019-2020 influenza season indicate that, as of April 4, 2020, between 24,000 and 62,000 lost their lives to the flu… Overall, the CDC estimates that 12,000 and 61,000 deaths annually since 2010 can be blamed on the flu. The higher number reflects the particularly harsh 2017-2018 flu season. Most years, the U.S. death toll from the flu is closer to 34,000 to 43,000. Globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the flu kills 290,000 to 650,000 people per year… [As of Dec 10, 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has killed nearly 300,000 people in the U.S. and nearly 1.6 million people worldwide. (Worldometer)]
Low turnout but free and fair: National Assembly election in Venezuela on Dec 6 is a blow to U.S.-led threats of regime change, by Leonardo Flores, Mint Press News, on Dec 10, 2020 (This article is also published on the website of CodePink, where is is undated. Leonardo Flores is a Latin American policy expert and campaigner with CodePink.)
Previously reported election news:
* Incumbent president Nicolas Maduro’s socialist alliance wins victory in Venezuela’s National Assembly election, delivering a defeat to the sanctions and regime change policy of the U.S./Canada/Europe. Report by Dan Kovalik, in RT, Dec 7, 2020 and read: Even the opposition believes Venezuela’s election was legitimate, by Vijay Prashad, published in People’s Dispatch, Dec 11, 2020
[Turnout in the Venezuela election was 31 per cent (app. 6.4 million voters in a country of 28 million). Near-final results were: Grand Patriotic Pole (including the governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela): 3,558,320 votes, 67.6%; Democratic Action and allies: 944,665, 17.95%; VU/PV/VPA: 220,502, 4.19%; Communist Party-led coalition (Popular Revolutionary Alternative-APR): 143,917, 2.73%; others: 357,609, 6.79%. There has been little analysis in alternative media in the West of the poor result of the Communist Party-led Popular Revolutionary Alternative (APR), which received three per cent of the vote. The APR ran on a leftist-sounding but vague platform of opposition to the Maduro-led government and the mixed-economy policy which the government has been pursuing as a result of the tightening Western embargo against Venezuela and the failure of its economic policy relying excessively on overseas sales of the country’s extensive fossil fuel resources. One alternative media outlet to report favourably on the APR’s election campaign is the Australian Green Left Weekly.].
* Two opposing candidates and electoral blocs claiming the legacy of Hugo Chavez speak on the eve of Venezuela’s Dec 6 National Assembly election. Interviews published in Venezuela Analysis, Dec 4, 2020 [The government of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro inherited and then continued the policy of extreme dependence on fossil fuel revenues earned abroad that marked the years of the presidency of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. In response to the country’s deep economic crisis, to which fossil fuel dependence has greatly contributed, the government has recently turned to ‘mixed economy’ measures to ease the crisis, appealing to patriotic business leaders to assist. This has sparked opposition to the government from domestic left-wing forces and also from some on the global left who previously backed the government as representative of the goals of the original Bolivarian Revolution. See, for example, this article dated Dec 3 in the Australian Green Left Weekly as well as this interview dated Nov 20 in Venezuela Analysis, each based on interviews with Rafael Uzcátegui, a spokesperson of the ‘Popular Revolutionary Alternative’ (APR), the left-wing electoral alliance opposing the governing PSUV party in the Dec 6 election. What is striking in the article and interview is the absence of a meaningful alternative economic and social program by the APR to the Maduro-led government.]
China prepares large-scale rollout of five different coronavirus vaccines it is testing and manufacturing, Associated Press, Dec 6, 2020
Related news of China: China’s exports surge to record levels as coronavirus lockdowns return to the West, South China Morning Post, Dec 7, 2020
Europe battles surge in coronavirus deaths in nursing homes, Associated Press, Dec 6, 2020
Globe and Mail daily pours on the anti-China invective as Covid-19 rages in Canada’s largest provinces.
[The Globe and Mail is the leading voice among corporate media in Canada in support of the U.S.-led economic and military aggression against the Chinese government and people. In its December 7 edition, the newspaper prints a feature article disparaging China’s remarkable efforts in containing the Covid-19 pandemic soon after it broke. In Canada, the pandemic is running out of control, with record daily numbers of new cases and deaths (total of 418,677 cases and 12,715 deaths, as of December 7). The Globe article is datelined ‘Wuhan, China’ and is written by its ‘Asia correspondent’. It consists of smears and petty, disparaging comments against China’s successful pandemic fight. Meanwhile in the real world, China is commencing a vast vaccination program for the five different vaccines which have been pioneered there all the while living almost entirely free of new Covid-19 infections. The December 7 edition of the Globe also features a threatening op-ed by regular contributor Charles Burton headlined ‘Beijing should worry about the Biden era’. Burton is a writer at the ultra-conservative Macdonald-Laurier Institute in Ottawa. The institute draws half of its name from the racist, first prime minister of Canada, John A. Macdonald (1867-73 and 1878-91). Statues of Macdonald are being removed by popular demand in towns and cities in Canada in recognition of the genocidal policies he and the governments he led waged against First Nations people.]
The top one per cent of households own 43 per cent of global wealth, ten per cent own 81 per cent, while the bottom 50 per cent have just one per cent, by Michael Roberts, published on his website Dec 6, 2020
The search for the tens of thousand of disappeared in Mexico, NAFTA partner of the U.S. and Canada, Washington Post, Dec 5, 2020 …More than 79,000 people have disappeared in Mexico, most of them since 2006. It’s the worst crisis of the disappeared in Latin America since the Cold War, when military-backed governments kidnapped and secretly killed their leftist opponents — an estimated 45,000 in Guatemala, up to 30,000 in Argentina, as many as 3,400 in Chile. And Mexico’s numbers keep rising…
[Mexico is #12 in the world for total Covid-19 cases, at 1,168,39, and #4 in the world for total Covid-19 deaths, at 109,456. It is #10 by population, at 129 million. Consumers of corporate media in the U.S., Canada and Europe will know little of the ongoing social disaster in Mexico because the corporate and state media outlets in thesse countries are hell-bent in publicizing and supporting their governments’ drive to overthrow the government of Venezuela. The Covid-19 infection rate in Venezuela is less than half that of Mexico; the death rate is four per cent that of Mexico. Venezuela’s death rate from Covid-19 is four per cent that of the U.S. and ten per cent that of Canada.] Related news of Latin America:
* The coronavirus has come roaring back into Brazil, shattering illusions it wouldn’t, Washington Post, Dec 6, 2020
Top 12 countries in the world for Covid-19 cases, as of Dec 6, 2020 (from Worldometer): U.S. 14,995,863; India 9,660,894; Brazil 6,577,177; Russia 2,460,770; France 2,281,475; Italy 1,709,991; UK 1,705,971; Spain 1,699,145; Argentina 1,459,832; Colombia 1,362,249; Germany 1,174,028; Mexico 1,168,395. World total is 67,042,223.
Germany was held up as an example of how to do the pandemic. Now it’s struggling, Washington Post, Dec 5, 2020 [Germany is #11 in the world by total Covid-19 cases; it is #19 by population.] …While many countries across Europe introduced lockdowns in early November to bring down soaring case numbers and ease the burden on hospitals, Germany opted for what it called a “lockdown light”… In France, where a lockdown required people to fill out a form to leave the house and nonessential businesses closed, cases have plummeted from more than 50,000 a day in early November to around 10,000 a day. Belgium, which had the highest per capita infection rate in Europe before its lockdown, has seen cases fall from more than 17,000 a day to around 2,500. Although Germany stopped its exponential growth in its tracks, its number of daily cases has barely budged, hovering at around 20,000 per day…
Beleaguered nursing homes in U.S. prepare for monumental task of vaccinating residents and staff, Washington Post, Dec 4, 2020 Pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens are the linchpins in plan to vaccinate millions of nursing home residents, where coronavirus infections have resulted in more than 100,000 deaths
Related pandemic news:
* The exponential rise in Covid-19 hospitalizations in the U.S., Vox.com, Dec 4, 2020 Far more Americans are currently hospitalized with Covid-19 than at any other point in the pandemic, a grim indicator that the third big wave of cases in the US is the worst wave to date by a lot… Deaths have nearly hit a new record high as well, reaching 2,733 on December 2, reversing a steady decline that had begun in early May after the first wave and in August after the second wave…
* As the pandemic tears through California and some counties begin shutdowns, the entire state sits on the edge of another mandatory shutdown, Washington Post, Dec 4, 2020
* How Melbourne eradicated Covid-19, Vox.com, Dec 4, 2020 Life is almost back to normal in Melbourne, Australia. Here is how they did it.
* Taking a trial shot of Russia’s ‘Sputnik V’ Covid-19 vaccine, by Sergey Satanovskiy, correspondent, Deutsche Welle, Dec 3, 2020 [New Covid-19 cases continue to rise inexorably in Russia, exceeding 25,000 per day during the past two weeks. Its per capita rate of infection is one quarter that of the U.S., one half that of France and slightly larger than that of Germany.]
Joseph Biden is the perfect figurehead for the post-Trump national security establishment, by Jeremy Scahill, The Intercept, Dec 4, 2020 Make no mistake, Joe Biden is a Washington creature with a multi-decade record of support for wars and militarism.
Related: The Beltway left is normalizing corruption and corporatism, by David Sirota and Andrew Perez, published in The Daily Poster, Dec 4, 2020
Opposition leader seeking overthrow of Belarus gov’t appeals to U.S. for more support. Op-ed by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, published in Washington Post, Dec 5, 2020 …We remain grateful to the European Union and the United States for their vigorous moral and technical support. Yet we cannot stop there. We need more help from the United States… I appeal to the U.S. Congress to swiftly pass the Belarus Democracy, Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act of 2020…
Wall Street gets bailed out by while Main Street gets sold out, by Pam Martens and Russ Martens, published on Wall St. On Parade, Dec 3, 2020 …For the second time in a dozen years, another former Goldman Sachs banker holds the reins at the Treasury Department as it bails out Wall Street while crushing Main Street businesses and American families. This time it’s Steve Mnuchin rather than Hank Paulson. Before we get into the guts of yesterday’s hearing, it’s important to have the background on how Wall Street was bailed out and Main Street was sold out the last time around – as the parallels are downright eerie…
Related:
* With rent freezes about to expire, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin lobbies for more Wall Street bailouts, by Raul Diego, Mint Press News, Dec 4, 2020 As millions of Americans stand on the brink of economic annihilation, the money keeps flowing to Wall Street thanks to carefully contrived mechanisms to maintain a dying financial system afloat
* A credit crash ahead?, by Michael Roberts (Marxist economist in UK), published on his webiste, Dec 2, 2020
After Trump leaves, U.S. and Israeli aggression against Iran will remain, interview with Scott Ritter, broadcast on ‘Pushback’ (The Grayzone), with host Aaron Maté, Dec 4, 2020 (29-minute interview. Scott Ritter is a former UN Weapons Inspector, former Marine Corps Intelligence officer, and author of Dealbreaker: Donald Trump and the Unmaking of the Iran Nuclear Deal.)
Following Israel’s assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh on November 27, former United Nations weapons inspector Scott Ritter debunks the myths about Iran’s nuclear program being a nuclear weapons program and discusses the next phase of the U.S. and Israeli campaign against Iran. Although President-elect Joseph Biden has voiced support for returning to the 2015 nuclear power agreement (JCPOA), longstanding U.S.-Israel hostility to Iranian sovereignty will continue under Biden’s watch.
Related:
* How Israel deployed an intelligence deception to justify killing scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, by Gareth Porter, in Consortium News, Dec 4, 2020
* Trump’s support for Israel’s killing of Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh could lead to war, by Marjorie Cohn, Truthout.org, Dec 1, 2020
Indian farmers lead historic strike and protests against social and economic policies of Narendra Modi-led government, interview with P. Sainath (longtime Indian journalist, broadcast on Democracy Now!, Dec 3, 2020 (18-minute interview, with transcript)
Prospects for combatting the coronavirus pandemic with vaccines in a world of great inequality. Interview with Dr. Paul Farmer, broadcast on Democracy Now!, Dec 3, 2020 (Interview in two segments: part one 22 minutes, and part two 18 minutes). Dr. Paul Farmer is chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and founder of the global health delivering agency Partners In Health. He has published a new book about the Ebola epidemic titled Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds: Ebola and the Ravages of History.)
Related: We’ll remember Cuba’s Ebola compassion long after Fidel Castro’s death, by Erin Schumaker, HuffPost, Dec 2, 2016
Europe’s deadly pandemic resurgence: How did it happen again?, New York Times, Dec 4, 2020 …In the spring and again in the fall, the coronavirus waves reached deadlier peaks in Europe than in the United States, adjusted for population — although Europe’s current epidemic has begun to level off, and the surging American epidemic may soon overtake it… We now know that the second wave [sic] in Europe has become deadlier than the first. Nearly 105,000 people died of Covid-19 in November in 31 countries monitored closely by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, surpassing April’s total…
Vaccines offer hope for end to pandemic, but brutal months lie ahead, Washington Post, Dec 3, 2020 Coronavirus vaccines are poised to be approved and distributed in the coming weeks in the United States, but that promising news comes amid record levels of infections and hospitalizations along with warnings by experts that the most brutal period of the pandemic lies ahead …A new national ensemble forecast — an aggregation of 37 models sent to the Centers for Disease Control — projects that 9,500 to 19,500 people would die of covid-19 in the week encompassing Christmas. The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, meanwhile, has been putting the final touches on a new forecast that shows an increase from the institute’s projection on Nov. 19 of 470,000 deaths by March 1…
Related:
* Doctors and nurses plead for action by governors as hospitals are slammed by Covid-19, Washington Post, Dec 3, 2020 …The largest organized effort by health-care providers may be in Connecticut, where dozens of doctors wrote Gov. Ned Lamont (D), asking him to halt indoor dining, close gyms and ban “all other unnecessary public gatherings.” …
* U.S. Supreme Court sides with California church protesting coronavirus restrictions, Washington Post, Dec 3, 2020 …In May, the Supreme Court voted 5-to-4 to uphold earlier restrictions imposed by California Governor Gavin Newsom. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. was in the majority along with the court’s liberals and he said at the time that courts should defer to local officials better situated to decide the proper response to the pandemic…
* U.S. hits 100,000 Covid-19 hospitalizations, breaks daily death record, NPR, Dec 2, 2020 …Data from the COVID Tracking Project show 100,226 people were hospitalized on Wednesday with the disease caused by the coronavirus — a figure that has been steadily rising for weeks. Meanwhile, 3,157 new deaths were recorded on Wednesday, surpassing the previous peak of 2,607 deaths on April 15, according to Johns Hopkins University… and read: report by CNN, Dec 2, 2020
The MAGA revolution devours its own, by Michelle Goldberg, columnist, New York Times, Dec 3, 2020 Republicans encouraged Trumpist havoc. Now it’s coming for them.
Related U.S. news:
* Feuds flare along Trump’s border wall as construction ramps up during his final days in office, Washington Post, Dec 3, 2020 …President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to stop construction immediately upon taking office. Federal officials say Trump has built 415 miles [670 km] of new barriers — and that they expect to reach 450 miles [725 km] by the end of the year while working at breakneck pace…
* While the U.S. roils in pandemic emergency, Trump rants against election results for 46 minutes in new video post, Associated Press, Dec 2, 2020
* Trump regime sets wave of executions during the days leading up to Biden inauguration. Report in Washington Post, Dec 2, 2020 After nearly two decades without any federal executions, the Justice Department reversed course this summer by carrying out three death sentences in four days. Now the department is planning a similarly busy schedule of executions during the Trump administration’s final days… President-elect Biden “opposes the death penalty, now and in the future, and as president will work to end its use,” Biden spokesman TJ Ducklo said in a statement. On Biden’s website, his criminal justice plan says he “will work to pass legislation to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level, and incentivize states to follow the federal government’s example.” …
What are emergency use authorizations by the FDA and do they guarantee that a vaccine or drug is safe?, by Christopher Robertson (Professor of Law, Boston University) and Jeremy Greene (Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University), The Conversation, Dec 3, 2020
Related pandemic news: European Health Agency says after-travel quarantine for travellers is ‘not effective’, Euronews, Dec 3, 2020 …”Available evidence does not support quarantine and testing of travellers as an effective public health measure to substantially reduce overall transmission in the general population.” …The joint report by health and aviation agencies in Europe argues that travellers should not be treated “as a high-risk population” unless they had been known contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case; they should therefore be subjected to the same rules as the local population…
Health-care workers in U.S. will be vaccinated first; for now, they’re handling a surge in hospitalizations, Washington Post, Dec 1, 2020 Hospitals across the U.S. are confronting new and alarming levels of strain amid a surge of coronavirus patients, with nearly 100,000 hospitalized nationwide on December 1. Now, even with the hope that vaccines will arrive soon, health-care workers who are already stretched thin are bracing for an unprecedented wave of illness… If people travel and gather for Christmas as they did this past week, they project, the country’s already catastrophic situation could reach levels where hospitals are forced to choose which patients to save and which to let die, and where lockdowns become unavoidable realities of everyday life…
Related pandemic news:
* Health officials in U.S. are terrified of a pandemic Christmas, Washington Post, Dec 1, 2020
* Europe’s schools still open and relatively safe through Covid-19 surge, Washington Post, Dec 1, 2020
* Alberta gov’t asks Ottawa for four Covid field hospitals while continuing to dodge responsibility to declare lockdown. Report by CBC News, Dec 2, 2020 …Alberta continues to set new daily COVID-19 infection records. It leads Canada in the number of active cases per capita… On December 1, there were 16,628 active cases in Alberta, population 4.4 million, compared to 14,524 in Ontario — a province with more than three times as many people. On December 2, the province reported a near-record 1,685 new cases…
While the ‘Five Eyes’ spying countries ban China’s 5G technology, a new technology will dangerously expand U.S. government spying on citizens. Report by Jack Rasmus, published on his website, Nov 28, 2020 …The U.S. Air Force’s Research Lab (yes, it has its own lab) has recently signed a contract to test new software of a company called SignalFrame, a Washington DC wireless tech company. The company’s new software is able to access smartphones, and from your phone jump off to access any other wireless or bluetooth device in the near vicinity. To quote from the article today in the Wall St. Journal, the smartphone is used “as a window onto usage of hundreds of millions of computers,s routers, fitness trackers, modern automobiles and other networked devices, known collectively as the ‘Internet of Things’.” …
The assassins and Iran, by Patrick Lawrence, published in Consortium News, Dec 1, 2020 Any thought of Biden and his people riding into town on white horses to save the 2015 nuclear agreement abandoned by the U.S. in 2018 is strictly naïve.
Previously reported:
* 
Will the world condemn the murder of Iran’s top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh?, by Medea Benjamin and Ariel Gold, Salon.com, Nov 30, 2020
* Iran in the crosshairs: Tracing overt and covert action, by Eric Walberg, Covert Action Magazine, Nov 28, 2020
* Iran official says Israel killed military nuclear scientist remotely, Associated Press, Nov 30, 2020
* Assassination of Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh is an attempt to block diplomacy and start military confrontation, statement by the Iranian Canadian Congress, Nov 27, 2020
* In the end, Trumpism is revealed as a death cult, by Will Bunch, columnist, Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov 29, 2020
‘The ones most at risk from Covid-19 are the ones we’re most ill-prepared to reach with the vaccine’, interview with Ravi Gupta (U of Pennsylvania), transcript published by FAIR.org, Dec 1, 2020 …With the H1N1 virus in 2009, the World Health Organization tried to procure commitments from wealthy countries to donate a certain percentage of their vaccine doses. But there were a lot of manufacturing problems with the H1N1 vaccine and H1N1 turned out to be more serious than anticipated, so these countries rescinded their commitments to donate vaccines to developing countries. By the time that countries like the United States, Australia and Canada did donate vaccines to developing countries, it was too late; the H1N1 pandemic had come nearly to an end. Now we are seeing that a substantial proportion of Covid vaccines have already been purchased by the U.S., European countries and other wealthy countries. A globally coordinated vaccine strategy is undermined when the doses have already been purchased by the wealthier countries…
Previously reported: Our vaccine infrastructure needs a radical overhaul, by Ravi Gupta, published in Boston Review, Nov 13, 2020 Decades-long funding cuts for pandemic preparedness hamper coordinated distribution and equitable access. We must reimagine how to make life-saving vaccines available to everyone.
Related vaccine news:
* The long haul of vaccine results is just beginning, by Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic magazine, Dec 1, 2020 read the article here in pdf format: The long haul of vaccine results is just beginning [This report is informative but one-sided. It only reports on the vaccines being tested and produced by the global pharmaceutical companies in the West (‘Big Pharma’). In reality, vaccines are also being developed in Russia and China and are much further along in being tested and administered. Unlike Big Pharma, Russia and China are making their vaccines immediately available to less wealthy countries, including through shared production agreements.].
* China has promised millions of coronavirus vaccines to countries globally. And it is ready to deliver them, CNN, Dec 2, 2020
* Russia will commence mass vaccinations against Covid-19 beginning next week, Live Mint (business news outlet in India), Dec 2, 2020
* Vaccine apartheid, by Jayati Ghosh, published in Project Syndicate, Nov 16, 2020
U.S. states with lax coronavirus restrictions are spreading the virus beyond their borders, by David Armstrong, Pro-Publica, Dec. 1, 2020 Lax states are attracting shoppers and students from stricter neighbors — and sending back COVID-19 cases. The imbalance underscores the lack of a national policy.
Imperialist militarism and the SARS CoV-2 pandemic. Of the top 25 countries in the world for Covid-19 cases, 12 are members of the NATO military alliance: in order, U.S. (#1), France (5), Spain (6), UK (7), Italy (8), Germany (12), Poland (13), Turkey (18), Belgium (19), Netherlands (23), Czech Republic (24), Romania (25).
